Erika Gefallen : Atlantean Unicorn
by Legionary
Summary: As a last vindictive act Discord sends Twilight into the Multi-verse. She somehow suvives the experience but comes out a filly with very little in terms of memory. She is found by a society and a Human willing to take her in. However this is not so much a story of her life in her new home as a story of how she comes to terms with her old one.
1. Chapter 1 : Adoption

There was a palace that appeared to be floating in the sky. It was massive, several miles around and the central spire stood at least two miles. There were many shorter spires and large garden filled courtyards as well as almost excessive amounts of plants hanging from the inner walls as well as water falls pouring down the side of the central spire. The palace hung peaceably within a perfect orb of clouds as the sun shone through a few small cracks.

All was peaceful as the coloring of the clouds turned copper, signifying it was the late afternoon. But in one small corner of a near empty garden there was a fearful whimper and the sound of a box thudding against the ground. This went on for about a minute before a figure emerged from a nearby bush to investigate the noise.

This figure was a human wearing a long dark gray cloak with equally dark gray shirt and trousers, covering the lower half of his face and hanging out of his hood was a long pink silk scarf. He approached the source of the noise. A small cardboard box.

The only defining feature of this plain brown little box was the words on the side of the box. The figure looked at them for a couple seconds before recognizing them as English; a language he knew hadn't been used for centuries. He studied the box and its massage suspiciously before a sob and whine came from within it and the box began to bounce a little and rock from side to side.

Making a decision the figure reached forward with light gray hands and opened the top. Within the box was at first appeared to be an oddly colored horse, a foal to be exact. Then he noticed several features that said otherwise.

The little foal's eyes and face was very "very" different from horses and foals he had seen in his life. They were not as… pronounced would be the word, as equines and were much more expressive as the clear curiosity it showed. Then was the coat, eyes and mane, they were all purple while the mane was a purplish blue with a pink streak in it. Not to mention how tiny it was, newborn foals were at least as big as large dogs but this one was as small as a puppy. Oh yes he had almost forgotten to mention the little horn on its head.

'A Unicorn foal?' The figure thought. 'How did you get here?'

Slowly and carefully so he did not startle it he reached in and took the little foal into his arms. The little thing began to fidget fearfully but he shushed it and ran his hand in its mane to comfort it. It worked and the tiny horse stared up at him with big cute curious eyes. He in turn stared back with equal curiosity and pulled down his hood and scarf, exposing his ashen features, bright pink eyes and charcoal hair, cut short.

He pondered the little foal in his arms as it began to prod his lightly smiling face with its tiny hoof. The expressions it had was far too… well, expressive for a mere animal and he began to wonder… His eyes glowed bright pink and elicited a small gasp of surprise from the foal. A second later the glow stopped and he smiled brightly at the little mare.

"Well, well aren't you a smart one!" He said cheerfully causing 'her' to tilt her head quizzically.

He had plunged into her mind and though he had not expected to find much because of how young she was he still found out a lot. Namely she was a sapient being capable of complex thought and reasoning as well as capable of communicating with him verbally… eventually, she was still very young after all. Oddly other than a few instinctive memories she had no recollection of anything beyond the box she awoke to find herself in.

He outstretched a hand waved dismissively at the small box which proceeded to disintegrate with pink sparks of electricity. The little mare in his arms gasped and her eyes sparkled with delight at the show of magic. He smiled and began to walk back to the main path of the garden.

**-a few short moments later-**

"What's that daddy?" A little boy asked with excitement.

With the foal still in his arms the man said. "She is a little Unicorn I just found abandoned in off in the bushes." He then put said unicorn down in front of his son.

The little boy stared at the tiny unicorn with big wondering eyes, an expression that the little unicorn was returning. He then reached out and stroked her mane and got a big pleased smile in response. Giggling the little boy turned to his father and with big soulful eyes pleaded. "Can I keep her? Pleasssssse!"

His father chucked in response but said sternly. "She is not a pet Conrad. In fact I want you to do something for me."

"Oh… ummm okay!" Conrad said with a little disappointment but got ready to do whatever it was his father wanted him to do.

"Remember that magic trick you're really good at?"

"The one you told me I wasn't allowed to use unsupa-unsuuupervise until I have Ethics class?" Conrad said stumbling a little in his pronunciation.

"It's unsupervised." His father corrected. "And yes I want you use it on this little unicorn."

Said unicorn was still sitting and looking back and forth between the two. Busy struggling to comprehend a language that was completely alien to her.

"Okay daddy!" Conrad nodded and focused on the tiny mare and put on his 'concentration face'. Namely he squinted his eyes and scrunched up his features and pursed his lips. It was as silly looking as it sounded but the little unicorn was delighted by it and squealed with laughter.

Conrad's blue eyes began to glow ever so slightly as he did the best mind plunge a five year old could do. His concentration shattered almost as soon as he saw into her mind but not before he realized something about the little unicorn before him.

"She's really smart daddy!" He yelled to his father with wide surprised eyes.

"Yes she is Conrad." He stepped forward and placed a hand on the unicorns head. "In fact she is capable thinking and feeling emotion and will also one day be able to speak to us. This is why she is not a pet, she is a person instead."

"Oh…" Conrad simply said, only getting the gist of it. "Well she can be my friend instead!"

Darting forward Conrad wrapped the unicorn in a tight hug. Giggling in response she returned the hug, wrapping her forelegs around him. The father smiled at this and thought back to the wording on the side of the box.

'Give to a good home hmmm?' He stared at his son and the little unicorn for a moment before coming to decision. 'Why not? Conrad had been asking for a little sister and I have been meaning to run the idea past Su Li and the others…'

"What's her name?" Conrad's voice broke him out of his revelry.

"Hmmm… She doesn't have one." Stepping forward he took the unicorn from his son's grasp and raised her up to his eye height. "… From now on your name shall be… Erika."

'Erika Gefallen' He finished in his mind.

'Erika' blinked tilted her head at him in confusion. She then blinked and again only this time her eyes stayed half open and yawned cutely. The father looked up at the sky and saw the clouds were darkening and more cracks appeared and revealed a starry night sky. Placing the newly named Erika in his arms he turned to Conrad.

"It's getting close to your bedtime." He stated. "Your lessons are going to be particularly early from now on and I do not want to her any complaints from you or see a lack of energy for the practicals, you understand?"

Conrad stiffened. "Yes, father." He answered obediently.

His father nodded in approval. "Come, let's get inside."

**-the central spire-**

"Conrad would you mind if Erika shares a bed with you?" His father asked. "At least until we get a room specifically designed for her."

"Sure daddy!" Conrad answered enthusiastically. "I wouldn't even mind if we kept sharing a room for years."

His father chuckled in response. "We'll see, she is a girl after all and may want her own room when she can ask for it." He then stopped and stared out a large window.

"Go get ready for bed Conrad; I'll be there in a moment to tuck you in."

"Yes daddy."

Once Conrad closed the double doors of his room behind him his father looked at Erika who had fallen asleep in his arms. He gave her a nudge and she woke up and looked at him sleepily, he pointed at the window in response. She looked at the window and immediately the cobwebs cleared from her mind as she took in the sight. The cloud cover had been reduced to only a few wisps and revealed not only a beautiful starry night but an entire planet before her.

Well over millennia ago the inhabitants of this world had called it Earth but now they all knew it by one name, Atlantis. The existence of not only magic but the city and continent of Atlantis itself came as a shock to the entire world. This shock served the Emperor of the Atlantean remnants as he went about a massive blitz against the United Kingdom or the 'Britainian Colonies' as he called them. By the time the world heard about this attack and the pertinent countries moved to deploy forces to relive Britain it had already fallen and was encapsulated by a massive shield. It remained this way for a year before the shield suddenly dissipated and massive flying castles the size of small cities poured forth from the occupied isles. When magic was revealed to exist governments the world over scrambled to find people who actually had the talent, they succeeded but even though they now worked to combine technology and magic the Atlanteans were already horrifically far ahead of them in that regard. It was a repeat of the blitz of the British Isles as the Europeans and the Americans desperately fought to drive the invaders from their home continents, they failed. The Atlantean Emperor gave the rest of the 'Free World' an ultimatum, either they surrendered to the inevitable or they would pay the price for resistance. The world answered with nukes which promptly and mysteriously flew into space. Needless to say the Emperor was not amused and the respective country leaders paid the price when their nations were eventually overwhelmed.

Erika Stared in awe at the beautiful sight before her, her little mouth gaping.

"This is your new home Erika." The man holding her said. "And we'll be your new family. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to the rest of us, and there will be a lot if they can make it. I'm pretty sure they'll be interested in such a unique new member of our family."

Erika stared up at him uncomprehending his words but listening intently.

"I'll be your father and your teacher." He continued. "I'll support you in any path you choose to take in life. Librarian, philosopher, soldier, assassin even a farmer I will support you completely. But I will push you to your very limits to became the very best you can be in any field you choose. There may be times you will question your judgment when putting up with the trials I will put you through. But know this, I will never put you through anything that is truly beyond you and at times I may seem cruel I only ever want the very best for you, as I do with all my children. Erika, we may be entirely different species and you may not share my bloodline but this day forth you are one of my children no one will ever change that. And with the entirety of Atlantis as my witness, I Ezekiel Gefallen Gott Morder will put down any who will say otherwise."

Erika did not understand him at all but on a subconscious level understood the heartfelt meaning behind them. She reached up and nuzzled him in response causing him to smile.

"Come on Erika." Ezekiel smiled at her. "Let's get you and your brother to bed."


	2. Chapter 2 : Rescue?

Princess Celestia read the report on her desk with a relieved smile. Ever since Twilight was teleported by Discord as he was being Sealed, she and her magical experts worked day and night to come up with a spell to rescue her. She was instantly able to tell that Twilight was not sent anywhere on Equestria and feared she was sent to some otherworldly place, namely the only other one she was aware of… Earth. Her fears were confirmed when she and her sister Luna poured their godly might to scry Twilight in the nothingness that was the space between worlds. Twilight was in a HUMAN world and she had currently been in that world for the past forty five days.

Celestia's smile disappeared as anxious worry replaced her mood. There was no telling what condition she would find Twilight in. Would she be a guest in a household of good humans, a victim of horrifying lab experiments, tortured and beaten by humans who considered her an unholy abomination? Dark images and memories of when she first saw the world of humans filled her mind and there was little Celestia could do to rid herself of them.

Celestia calmed herself and focused on the fact that she could rescue finally Twilight after all this time. Inwardly she couldn't help but think that if Twilight was here, her valuable input would have ensured that the development of the spell would advance far faster. She studied the report further and frowned when she saw the theoretical power requirements. While it was not beyond hers and Luna's power it would mean, for a time, Equestria would have to do without both of its rulers.

'No.' Celestia thought firmly. The humans had very devastating weapons, even with her and Luna's power if something were to happen…

'Hmmm… perhaps… should I really risk them?' Celestia asked herself. The remaining Elements of Harmony had more than enough power for the spell itself, and the Elements themselves could be used to ensure Twilights rescue should they need to force her release. While this had the benefit of making sure Equestria had a ruler in her absence, she felt wrong for basically wanting to use Twilights friends as shields.

She sighed and began writing a message to send to spike. She felt that she had no better option than to have the remaining elements of harmony with her, taking along a battalion of palace guards would only make it harder to hide and retrieve Twilight unnoticed. Finishing the letter, she called to a guard and ordered that chariots be made ready, and sent to Ponyville to collect Twilight's friends.

**-several hours later-**

Celestia smiled at the ponies before her. "Hello my little ponies I have no doubt you are all wondering why I called you here."

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Pinkie shouted while hopping in place. "I bet I know! Did you get Twilight back!"

"Unfortunately not, my energetic subject." Celestia smiled sadly as Pinkie's hair began to deflate. "But her return is the reason you are all here."

"Really?" Applejack asked. "We'd be glad to help in any way to get our friend back, princess."

"Yes, you see during all this time I and my magical experts have been working to develop a spell to retrieve my wayward student." Celestia explained. "We know where she was sent, but we couldn't get there until now. This is where you all come in my little ponies. The spell is finished and simple enough to use, but there is the small matter of the power requirements. While I and my sister can supply the power, that would mean Equestria would have to make do without us, and I am not willing to do that…"

"So you require the power of the Elements of Harmony themselves your highness?" Rarity asked and got a confirming nod. "You cannot ask for that which is given freely your majesty."

The other four elements nodded in agreement causing Celestia to smile happily. She realized that even if she had decided to go with the alternative, the five mares before her would have somehow found out about it and tagged along to help get Twilight.

"Thank you, all of you." Celestia motioned for a nearby guard. "Please tell my sister to meet me in the throne room."

"Of course your majesty." He saluted crisply and marched out.

"Please follow me my ponies."

**-the throne room-**

The five of the mane six stood in in a circle with Princess Celestia. Said princess was now reassuring Luna that she would do fine in her absence.

"Luna you have done well to catch up with the trends and you passed your lessons with flying colors. I'm sure you will do fine in the few hours I will be gone." Personally, Celestia felt that Luna was more worried about her and was merely stalling. And she was right, Luna was the more magically inclined of the two, but the spell was not what was worrying her. She just had this feeling that something was going to go wrong.

"Okay Tia just… just be careful okay?" The smaller princess said.

"I will Luna." Celestia turned and walked back into place and looked at the five mares accompanying her. "Is everypony ready?"

Getting nods from all of them she then took a deep breath and as one the princess' horn and the five elements of Harmony began to glow with blinding light. The effect was immediate; the world froze in place and began to melt, like a painting left out in the rain. Celestia and the five mares were treated to the sight of Princess Luna and the palace guards melting disgustingly before suddenly disintegrating into pigments of color. The pigments fell to the 'floor', a plane of endless black, before being blown away by an unfelt wind.

The six ponies felt themselves move. The world around them was endless black dotted by little white lights, which streaked by as the six pones felt themselves move and pick up speed until suddenly stopping. For a timeless moment they felt like they were covered by crawling bugs and watched by a thousand eyes before they continued moving. They moved faster and faster until Rainbow Dash felt like she should have caused a Rainboom several times over.

Before they knew it was all over and new world began to fade into sight. First was the sky, an unnatural stormy gray… then was the ground, made of black and gray rocks with yellow markings… next was their surroundings, towering constructions of lifeless gray rock and dull blacked mirrors were all around them. Finally with a small pop in their ears they began to hear the new world they were in, they immediately wished they couldn't.

All around them explosions and metallic screams rang out, threatening to deafen them. Celestia stood just as dazed and scared as the other ponies before her insight into the human world told her where she was, a warzone. Just as that realization hit her a terrible wail rose up, drowning out everything else in its volume. She knew what that was as well.

"Quickly my ponies, this way!" Celestia shouted in urgency, managing to shake the others out of their shock.

Celestia and the five mares ran down what looked to be an alien street looking for shelter. The Princess' head turned this way and that looking desperately for anywhere to hide as the wail grew louder and louder, telling her she had seconds left. Making a sharp right turn, Celestia's horn glowed with power as she hoped there wasn't a wall behind one of the black mirrors.

The mirror shattered inwards revealing a large dark room filled with tables, desks, small walls and chairs. The six ponies leapt over the short rock wall. Celestia turned towards the entrance they made, horn glowing with magic just as the wail grew to a climax.

There was a deafening explosion as a shockwave blasted forth from the point of impact several blocks away. A wall of dust was kicked up as the shockwave expanded, obliterating small buildings and instantly knocking over the taller ones, until the wave of dust and kinetic energy reached the building the ponies were taking shelter in.

Celestia struggled to keep her shield up as the world around her trembled and incredible forces buffeted her and her ponies. She could just make out Fluttershy's terrified screaming above the sound of the wailing winds and crumbling rock.

'Wait… crumbling rock?' Almost not willing to take a look Celestia peered up and past the dust filling the room to see the ceiling. Massive cracks were quickly forming on the ceiling and before long ever larger chunks of it began to fall around them. Just as the portion of ceiling above them collapsed she felt Rarity add her magic to her own. Then everything went black.

**-somewhere nearby-**

Ten figures stood on the skeletal remains of a sky scraper, nine of them bipedal. One of the figures raised a leg, and placed it against its head.

"This is command squad Gamma." Its feminine voice rang out in the stillness. "All squads in the Quicksilver region report."

"This is Omega, all clear." A voice on her communicator said.

"This is Zeta, all clear."

"This is Alpha, we have three casualties, all friendly fire." Alpha stated. "Return to full strength, ETA two minutes."

"This is Beta, Ground Sweeper was ineffective against hostiles in the city outskirts, taking fire." Another voice said calmly with gunshots going off in the background.

"This is Delta, all clear, Requesting permission to reinforce Beta."

"Permission granted Delta." The figure answered. "What is your ETA to Beta's position?"

"ETA thirty seconds, Gamma." Delta Answered

"Beta this is Gamma, Delta is moving to assist." She reported. "ETA, thirty seconds."

"Roger that Gamma." Beta replied while the sound of gunfire seemed to have intensified in the last few seconds.

"Cloud Ranger this is Gamma report."

"Gamma this is Cloud Ranger." A female voice replied. "Currently running a recon sweep on the battlefield. Updating battle map now Gamma."

"Good work Cloud Ranger." She complimented as she studied the updated battle map. "Requesting a scan of the local area now, Cloud Ranger."

"Scanning, what am I looking for Gamma?" Cloud Ranger asked.

"Twenty seconds before the Ground Sweeper was dropped we detected a teleport with an unknown IFF." She reported. "I want you to look for thermal signatures, radio signals, anything out of the ordinary."

"Scan complete Gamma" Cloud Ranger reported. "Seeing a whole lot of fading thermals… wait got something."

"What is it?" She asked.

"Detecting non-fading thermals near assumed teleport location." Cloud Ranger stated. "Intensifying scan... I've got six unknowns Gamma."

"Roger that Cloud Ranger, Gamma out."

"Good Hunting Gamma."

"All right War Mages." The figure said as she faced the nine behind her. "We have some unknowns that need to be investigated, Jacobs take point."

**-several meters underground-**

Celestia couldn't make out anything in the darkness other than small beams of light piercing the rubble above them. Thankfully her shield held out long enough for the rubble to stabilize as a sort of dome over them; it wouldn't have been possible if Rarity hadn't added her magic at the last moment though. Suddenly the darkness was lifted as light poured forth from said pony's horn.

"Is everypony okay?" Rarity asked.

There were several groans and coughs and one subdued 'yes' but everyone was fine. Now they could focus on getting out from under the rubble. Their hastily made shelter was sturdy now, but there no telling just how many tons of rock was pressing on it, it was best they got out while they could. They explored their surroundings a bit and found a space they could crawl through and began making their way out. It was slow going as they tried to not disturb the rubble too much and Celestia, as the largest pony there, kept getting stuck but eventually they made out.

The already alien landscape had changed massively, there were hills of rubble and broken glass all around them and the force of the blast had cleared the sky of storm clouds but replaced it with a blinding blanket of dust. The sounds of battle were still there but they were far more subdued then before.

As the dust covered ponies made their way across the ruined and blasted city, Celestia began to be overcome with worry. The spell was designed to teleport them to Twilights general area, but the area was a horrific warzone the likes of which had never before occurred in Equestria. Celestia forced herself to stop thinking as thoughts of whether or not Twilight was even still alive let alone in one piece began to assail her mind.

'She has to be alive! She has to be…' She told herself.

It was then that Fluttershy stopped and her ear began twitching as she thought she heard something. It twitched again as it managed to catch it. Then the wind shifted and Fluttershy heard what it was, a cry of fear and agony made by what she though was a little filly. She darted for a nearby pile of rubble to get a better look.

"Fluttershy, where ya going!" Applejack called after her.

Fluttershy climbed to the top looked around her. She heard another cry and found where it was coming and gasped. Just a little ways away from the base of the rubble pile she was on was a little clothed bipedal creature with a long blond mane and pink hairless skin. It was in lying in growing puddle of blood and released little scared sobs laced with pain. Being the Element of Kindness Fluttershy could not deny her nature and galloped down the side of the rubble pile.

"Hold on! I'm coming!" She called out.

"Fluttershy! Slow down a darned second!" Applejack shouted as she and the others followed close behind Fluttershy.

Fluttershy reached the little creature and reached out with a hoof to roll it over onto its back. However as soon as she touched it little bolts of purple electricity arced over its form, causing Fluttershy to jump away with a shocked squeak. The sparks faded away to reveal a pile of dirt that looked exactly like the little creature whose cries attracted them. The pile of dirt then lost consistency and collapsed into a small pile of dirt. Celestia could tell that this was some form of illusion and suddenly had a very bad feeling. She was proven right a second later.

Six massive black forms dropped from the sky and crashed loudly into the ground around them. Emerging from the ensuing dust clouds were six bipedal giants wearing black metal armor, each one stood at a horrifying twelve feet and wielded massive swords lined with glowing silver runes. Floating in the air around the ponies were four figures. Three of them were like the six on the ground, but stood at half the height, wielded no swords and had stubbly glowing wings on their backs. However it was the last floating one that held the ponies' attention.

Like the other three airborne figures it had short glowing stubbly wings on its back but that's where the similarities ended. The figure was a pony wearing silvery full body armor.

The armored pony dropped to the ground and stood in front of the shocked ponies, standing slightly taller than Celestia. The black glass panels where its eyes were glowed a brilliant purple for moment, then faded. Suddenly its armor began changing, plates of silvery metal flipped and shifted until the armored pony stood at equal height with the other smaller ponies. Creases then appeared in the armor around its head before the metal retracted and revealed the identity of its wearer. It was Twilight.

This shocked Celestia and the five mares, but what happened next would practically send them into a stupor.

"That jewelry, that hair, the way you hold yourself, I know what you are… a noble." 'Twilight' sneered in disgust and stepped closer to Celestia, her hatred filled violet eyes bore into Celestia's shocked pink ones. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't have you killed filth!"

Silence met this question.


	3. Chapter 3 : Capture

"Well?" Erika asked impatiently. "Are you going to give me an answer? Or am I going to have to beat one out of you?"

Celestia and the five Elements of Harmony simply stood silently, struck dumb by what they were hearing. The Twilight they knew would never threaten Celestia with death, yet the impossibility in front of them would not go away. Eventually one of them broke out her shock.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "What the hay is your problem?"

Erika moved. She was so fast, one moment she was in front of Celestia, the next she was practically muzzle to muzzle with Dash.

"My name is not Twilight." Erika growled, glaring into Dash's eyes. "And my problem is that a slave of some inbred noble thinks she can pretend to know me!"

Celestia could plainly see that 'Twilight' was very agitated at this point and was ready to attack. She looked around and saw that the armored giants were clutching their swords expectantly, while the floating ones began to glow with deadly magic. Things were getting out of hoof. She needed to diffuse the situation before somepony did something they would not live to regret.

"Please stop." Erika turned sharply to face Celestia. "We do not mean any harm and don't know where we are. We surrender, just do not hurt anypony."

Erika narrowed her eyes at Celestia suspiciously, trying to figure out her game. Her eyes glowed purple for a brief moment, then she snorted disdainfully. She turned her back on Celestia and walked back to the circle her Warmages had formed around the ponies, swishing her tail dismissively as she went.

"Hmph, a noble with some common sense… how rare." Erika muttered under her breath before calling back. "This is what is going to happen. You are going to drop all that frivolous jewelry and then my squad is going to restrain all of you. ANY attempt to resist will be met with force."

Celestia nodded and began to remove her jewelry. As her horn started to glow, the surrounding Warmages grew extremely tense.

"I cannot remove my accessories easily without my magic." Celestia explained.

Erika glared at her for a few moments, then grunted. Suddenly half a dozen sparking purple orbs flew at Celestia. The ponies screamed as the orbs seemed to hit the princess. For a few breathless moments nothing seemed to happen, then with a click Celestia's jewelry fell to the ground in pieces.

"You will be restrained now." Erika said and walked away.

The floating armored Warmages landed and joined the circle around the ponies. The giant Warmages then went through the same changes Erika had, and before long they were the same size as the flying Warmages. One of them began making odd hand gestures before a large flaming orange circle appeared in the air before him. He reached in and began to pull out things that looked like the front half of a chest plate with a white gem in the center. He handed them around and the mages began to place them on the ponies.

A short distance away sat Erika. One of her formally giant mages approached her. It was her unofficial second in command Jacobs.

"Captain?" He called and got no answer.

"Sparkly?" He tried again this time using her call sign.

"Erika?" Erika turned to look at Jacobs out of the corner of her eye.

"Is there something wrong Erika?" Jacobs asked his superior. "Normally you'd have had the noble executed on the spot."

Erika simply looked at him before turning away to stare ahead. Jacobs decided not to pursue the matter any further; if his captain wanted to share her feelings, she would have done so.

'Seeing another member of her species for the first time must really be bothering her.' Jacobs thought to himself as he walked back to the group.

Erika sat for a moment longer before sighing and placing a hoof against the side of her head.

"This is command squad Gamma to the Sadistic Melody, do you read?" Erika said into her communicator.

"This is the Sadistic Melody; we read you loud and clear Gamma." The operator on the other end replied.

"I am requesting a transport at my position for my squad and some prisoners."

"One moment… request approved Gamma." The operator replied. "Transport inbound, ETA five minutes."

"Copy that, Gamma out." Erika said.

"This is command squad Gamma to all squads in the Quicksilver region, my squad is returning back to base, transferring battlefield command to Zeta."

"Copy that Gamma." Replied Zeta and the other squads. "See you back on the Melody."

Erika lowered her hoof back to the ground and sat watching the expanse of destruction and slowly dissipating dust clouds. She gave one more sigh and on an unseen command, her helmet reformed and covered her head once more. Once this was finished, she then turned and walked back to her squad.

Princess Celestia and the five Elements of Harmony now stood uncomfortably in their 'restraints'. In truth they weren't actually restrained because the metal chest plates, once put in place, simply extended several chains around the ponies' bodies, over their shoulders and fastened themselves. If anything, the chest plates would protect them rather than do their jobs, until one of the mages made a small wave.

The power of the chest plates activated just as Pinkie raised a hoof to wave back. All six of the ponies' eyes became comically huge as they felt themselves become weak in different ways. For the Earth Ponies like Pinkie Pie and Applejack, they felt the energy and strength that Earth ponies were famed for disappear; Applejack felt her strong legs weaken to the point where she felt like a helpless filly again and Pinkie felt the nigh infinite energy she was known for fade. The Pegasi, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash felt like their wings were practically withering from how weak they had suddenly become; Fluttershy whimpered as her wings hung limply at her sides and Rainbow Dash simply stood there, horror struck as the thing she took pride in most in her life was taken away. Rarity was the least affected as she simply lost her ability to channel magic through her horn but, was still distressed by it. As shocking as these effects were to the five, they were trivial compared to what was happening to their princess.

Celestia was an Alicorn, a goddess of the sun made flesh, and her restraints were built for something far more mortal in mind. Atlantean engineering was not something to take lightly though, as was made apparent when Celestia's chest plate began to hum with ever growing effort. The sun goddess was shocked as she felt her power slowly, but surely, locked away. In the end it came down to two simple facts; Celestia was flesh and, blood and her restraints were mechanical. One eventually tires and the other keeps going as long as it has power.

With one last shudder, the princess fell onto her side into unconsciousness. Immediately, the ponies around her broke out of their shock and rushed to her side.

"Princess!" Fluttershy shouted. "Wake up! Oh, please wake up!"

"Relax." Erika said contemptuously. "She's unconscious. Probably used magic all her life for everything, typical for a useless noble…"

"How dare you…" Fluttershy interrupted quietly.

"Hmmm?"

"How dare you!" She spun around and _stared_ into Erika's optics. "We spent all this time worrying about you! We risk our lives just trying to find you and get you back! And what do you do when we find you? You threaten to KILL the princess, you pretend you don't know us, you put us in these… things and you put down the princess when she could be HURT!"

As Fluttershy ranted, Erika's optics put on a bit of a light show. Her normally black visors began to glow green and strange symbols began to appear rapidly on them and flash red. They quickly cluttered up her visor and overlapped each other until eventually the armor around her eyes released a single solitary spark. Immediately, Erika's visor turned back to their usual inky black.

"Well?" Fluttershy shouted, somehow up in the air despite her wings not having the strength anymore, glaring at Erika. "What do you have to say yourself?"

"…How did you do that?" Erika asked.

"Do what?" The angry Pegasus shouted.

"You overloaded my optics without magic." Erika replied quietly. "I couldn't see on the light spectrum until they reboot now and… wait, get me back?"

"Yes, we…" Fluttershy started.

"You abandoned me." That threw Fluttershy for a loop and caused her to settle back down onto the ground. "Forty five years ago I was found in a small cardboard box. My father found me and adopted me into his family, but despite the Empire's best efforts, they could never find how I was abandoned there without anyone noticing. They searched far and wide for others of my kind, but always came up empty handed."

'Forty five years?' Fluttershy repeated, so surprised that she was no longer using her stare.

"So what changed?" Erika asked; her helmet shifted away again revealing her face and her angry violet eyes. "After abandoning me for over four decades what could have possibly warranted a search for me now? Let me guess, it was something utterly moronic like some prophecy wasn't it?"

"W-what?" Fluttershy stuttered.

"Did it go something like 'the lost daughter shall bear our salvation'?" Erika asked mockingly. "Because you can go screw yourselves! DEAD GODS BE DAMNED, I don't even know why I want to find my race anymore! Since obviously they don't bother looking for one of their own until they need something from them!"

"But, but Twilight…" Fluttershy tried to get a word in but…

"THAT! IS! NOT! MY! NAME!" Erika roared into Fluttershy's frightened, tearing face. "My name is Erika Gefallen, daughter of Ezekiel Gefallen Gott Morder!"

Fluttershy and the other four conscious ponies were stunned into silence. Erika's form was now incandescent and sparking dangerously with her violet magic. The air was filled with the sound of her heavy breathing and an odd hum that seemed to be coming from above them.

"Captain, the transport is here." Jacobs's voice cut into the tension in the air.

Erika's slightly glowing eyes looked up and saw the boxy orbital troopship above them. She then took several deep breaths, and slowly her magic receded as the transport set down beside them.

"Be quiet and get on board the ship." She ordered calmly and walked away from the five mares. "Emily, carry the noble."

"Yes ma'am." Replied one of the winged mages.

The ponies were escorted into the ship spartan interior of the ship by the War Mages. There were two rows of ten seats running along the side of the interior walls. The five mares hesitantly took to the seats as it was immediately obviously they weren't designed for quadrupeds. However, the seats were surprisingly comfortable once they were settled in. Emily walked in a moment later with an unconscious Celestia on her shoulder. She settled the unconscious princess into a seat right next to Applejack, who immediately struggled to hold up the princess as she flopped over onto her.

Erika was up in the cockpit taking the co-pilots seat. Settling into the extra stuffed seat with a sigh, she turned to the pilot.

"Get us out of here." She said to him.

The pilot nodded and turned to large mass of holograms that was his console.

"Alright everyone get settled, we are off in ten." He said aloud after pressing a holographic button.

Ten seconds later on the mark, the drop ship was off and quickly began to climb into the sky.

"Mind if I ask what kind of prisoners we have Cap'?" He asked Erika as he manipulated the controls.

"An unconscious noble and her small entourage of slaves." Erika answered with a sigh, she could imagine the surprise on the pilots face behind his visor. It was no secret that Erika did not like nobility. Granted neither did most other people who lived in the Atlantean Empire, but she was more extreme in expressing her hatred. Abruptly the pilots console began beeping.

"We got a bogey on the sensors." He stated.

He was about to bring up a holo-image of said bogey, but it showed itself. A large pile of rubble began to bubble up strangely on the ground far below before bursting outwards in an explosion of concrete, metal and glass. Rising from the newly created hole in the ground was a sixty foot long ship that could have been once described as sleek and beautiful. But the damage caused from the Ground Sweeper and its own raising through the rubble had covered it in tears, dents and covered the chassis in a layer of dust. Erika recognized it as a 'pleasure yacht' that the rich of this world often owned.

"Open a com channel with it." Erika ordered a pilot.

"Attention civilian ship, this is Captain Sparkly of the Atlantean Empire." Erika said once the channel was open. "Identify yourself immediately or be fired upon."

"Don't shoot, we surrender!" A panicked voice immediately replied. "This is the pleasure yacht of the Lord Governor Tarble! He and his entire family are onboard!"

Erika knew Lord Governor Tarble from several Intel reports of the planet. He was a real blue-blooded type who took pride in his heritage as a descendent of an old ruling family. His race had long since been a republic but, Tarble liked to play up his noble blood, and use his family's still overflowing coffers to run his political campaigns for Lord Governor. The fool should have gotten a better pilot who could recognize Erika's call sign.

"Civilian ship, stay your course." Erika ordered with a sadistic smile on her face then turned the com channel off. "Put us in front their ship and open the boarding ramp."

The pilot nodded and began steering them into position. Erika got out of her seat and strode into the hold of the ship. Her squad was securely and comfortably strapped into place, The ponies however… not so much. Normally the safety harnesses would adjust themselves for the anatomy of different species, but it seemed it did not activate and remained on human biped. It didn't take much imagination to realize that the system was sabotaged, or who did it. It appeared Erika's squad did not take kindly to how her race was treating her.

Walking past and purposefully ignoring the ponies, specifically Applejack as she still struggled with Celestia's unconscious form leaning on her, Erika strode towards the end of the hold. She sat in front of the closed boarding ramp for about ten seconds until a spinning red light turned on in front of the door warning, it was opening. The ramp lowered and small amounts of dust began blowing into the hold. As the hum of the engines was replaced by the wind rushing past, Erika sat and stared at the torn and dirty form of Lord Governor Tarble's pleasure yacht for a few moments.

Erika stood up and violet sparks began to dance along her armored body, a few leaping away and orbiting above her, each quickly growing larger than her head. Before long, Erika had six blindingly bright and large sparks, and her eyes began to glow.

'This is what I think of your surrender.' Erika projected her thoughts for all to hear, especially those aboard the pleasure yacht.

All six sparks orbiting Erika flew through the air towards the yacht, crackling with electricity as they went. The yacht began to bank as its pilot desperately tried to save himself and those on board the ship he was flying. His efforts were futile however, as the sparks closed in and began orbiting it much like how multiple moons would orbit a planet. The sparks continued to orbit tauntingly for a few moments, before suddenly shooting away and rapidly flying back, spearing right through the ship so fast they left afterimages, making the yacht look like it was impaled by shafts of violet light for a brief second.

The yacht continued to fly seemingly unbothered by the holes torn through it, before a dull boom sounded from within it. The yacht immediately began listing and losing altitude, until a louder boom was heard and the ship went into a nosedive. Plowing into the ground at well over three hundred miles an hour would turn any civilian ship of that size into a crumpled mess with very little possibility of survival, but Erika wanted to be sure. The still flying sparks aimed themselves at the twisted heap of metal that was the remains of the pleasure yacht and flew at it from over a mile up. A split second later they impacted and exploded, vaporizing a smooth bowl into the ground.

Erika snorted disdainfully as the boarding ramp closed. She turned with a dismissive swish of her tail and strode back to the cockpit, ignoring the horrified looks the ponies were giving her.

'Dear Celestia…' Rarity thought to herself. 'Twilight what in the world happened to you?'


	4. Chapter 4 : Imprisoned

Space is far more 'dirty' then people realize. Space dust, asteroids, and various other free floating matter in the void will cause a ship's eventual destruction without proper protection. Nowhere is this more evident than above a verdant world in the throes of war. The still sparking carcasses of a once great planetary defense fleet cluttered the planet's orbital space lanes.

The remains of untold alien corvettes, cruisers, frigates, and great battleships seemed to surround the world like some macabre black cloud. Once the home of vast populations, great space stations lay gutted in slowly deteriorating orbits, their inhabitants spilling forth apathetically into space. This was what the transport carrying Erika and her prisoners had to navigate.

Erika sat and watched as the pilot navigated the between the wreckages of alien ships. He would fly between large chunks of melted metal and pieces of eviscerated ships, but would let more manageable chunks and the odd body impact the shield. The pilot had to pay attention to his surroundings, as the ruined ships would impact each other often, and would likely break up into innumerable smaller pieces. Eventually, they made it through the newly created graveyard to the sight of the Sadistic Melody on the other side.

The Sadistic Melody's model was the typical carrier of the Atlantean Navy. It was ten miles in diameter and two miles at its tallest point. It looked like a small city of skyscrapers had been built upon a vast disk, and its coat of Nano-bots gave the illusion of it having been made entirely of burgundy bricks. Around the edges of the vast ship were ten massive white crystals, each an oval in shape and a mile high. Most of the ship's size came from also being the military's troop transport, capable of fitting an entire legion. However at the moment, the Sadistic Melody was only carrying Erika's company for a raiding run.

Absolutely minuscule in comparison, Erika's transport approached the ship and was hailed by it.

"This is Captains Alexandria of the Sadistic Melody, do you read?"

"We read you Captain." Erika responded.

"Ahh, Sparkly." The captain greeted. "What's this I hear about you taking a noble alive, and bringing her slaves along no less?"

At this, Erika became nervous and took an aside glance at the pilot who she suspected of informing the captain. Said pilot was doing a remarkable job of looking innocent while he flew.

"Personally I wonder what the noble could know that could be so important that 'you' would spare them."

"You… you see ma'am I…" Erika started with increasing shame. "The reason I took the noble and her entourage prisoner is not at all beneficial for the Empire…"

"…Go on Sparkly, I'm listening." The captain said in a neutral tone.

"Neither the noble nor her entourage know anything that would be of strategic value to us." Erika continued, wincing all the while. "I took them prisoner because they are the same species as me ma'am."

Erika couldn't help but dread what the response of her superior would be. In all her thirty years as a Warmage of Atlantis, she prided herself in her professionalism above all else. Granted, she took some liberties when it came to encountering surrendering nobles, but that was practically unofficial Atlantean doctrine by now. But now, one decision made when she wasn't in the right state of mind was going to get her a hell of a dressing-down. Her father was going to be so disappointed in her she could tell, and the black mark on her service record would never be lived down…

"I'm fine with this." Captain Alexandria stated.

What?

"Truthfully Sparkly, considering who you are and the kind of influence you have, I doubt I would be able to touch you unless you did something stupid and damaging." The captain continued. "And I think I myself would have made the same decision you did, if I had been thought of as the only one of my kind, only to find them later in life."

"Thank you Ma'am!" Erika replied with surprise and relief.

"You're welcome Sparkly." Alexandria said. "Just don't make this too much of a habit."

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Now get on board for debriefing, and I'll have a Naval Mage to see to your prisoners, Sadistic Melody out."

Erika let out a sigh of relief as the com channel closed. She had thought she was going to get it for a minute, but the benefits of the family name and an understanding superior officer came through. She nodded to the pilot who set course for the Melody's hangar bay.

The cavernous hangar of the Melody had many different levels; each one had an assortment of troop transports and corvettes packed tightly. The airways within the hangar were for the most part clear, with the occasional loading golem floating by, along with several patrols of defense golems buzzing through the air. Erika's transport settled down near a Naval Mage with a small escort of humanoid Murmillo Pattern Combat Golems. Each one of the golems was carrying the signature golem infantry weapon, the Anti-Materiel Pulse Rifle.

With a small click, the transport set down next to the group.

"Alright people, we have arrived." Erika said as she entered the hold. "Time to get off. You five, line up! Emily, carry the noble."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Well, what are waiting for?" Erika asked in irritation when the five only gave her confused stares. "I gave you an order…"

She trailed off as she remembered from the initial mind plunge that they spoke English, and she had been speaking Atlantean. She face hoofed at her stupidity.

"Line up." She repeated in English.

The ten War Mages, five ponies, and one unconscious Alicorn exited the ship to find the Naval Mage waiting and the Golems taking position around them.

"Lieutenant Commander Benjamin." He stated with hands clasped behind him.

"Captain Erika 'Sparkly' Gefallen sir." She saluted. "Presenting Gamma squad and the prisoners."

He nodded at her and looked over Gamma. He narrowed his eyes as he took in details.

"NCO Jacobs!" He barked out. "You're one officer short, explain."

"NCO Squad leader Jasmine is on medical leave sir." Jacobs responded

"Hmmm…" Benjamin nodded, satisfied with the answer, and turned back to Erika.

"Captain, command wants you to debrief them immediately." She nodded and began marching away. "Gamma I believe you deserve a bit of R and R, I'll take the prisoners and process them, dismissed!"

"Yes sir, thank you sir." Jacobs said, leading his squad away.

And with that, five mares and one unconscious Alicorn were left alone with the prim Naval Mage and his golems. They shied away slightly as he studied them, hawk like features bearing down. A minute frown graced his features as he took in the princess. He turned his gaze back to the mares, and his eyes began to glow cyan before quickly fading back to their icy blue.

"What is her condition?" He questioned.

"Good sir we don't know." Rarity stepped forward and winced inwardly as Benjamin focused his gaze on her. "When these… things were placed on us, they affected all of us differently. But what she had was by far the worst reaction. She just stood there shaking and fell unconscious, we haven't been successful in waking her."

"Hmmm… I will have an Apothecary look to her." He said, gesturing to two Golems to carry the Princess away. "You five will now follow me for processing and placement into a holding cell. Resistance will not be tolerated."

The rest of the Golems closed in.

**-a short time later in the briefing room-**

"… After shooting down the Lord Governor's ship, we set course for the Melody and you know the rest sirs." Erika said to the Commanding Officers.

Erika stood in a brightly lit room. The room had a coffee table off to the side, with its namesake and several cups on top of it, and a crescent shaped table in the middle, where Captain Alexandria and two Commanders sat. She stood at attention giving her report in front of this table. There was no actually briefing room, just rooms that happen to be nearby and comfortable.

"Very good Sparkly." Captain Alexandria said absently, as she and the Commanders studied holograms with video recordings from Gamma's HUDs. "You will be redeployed again in seven hours, enjoy your R and R, dismissed."

"Yes Ma'am, thank you Ma'am."

Erika exited the room into the clear hallway outside. She navigated the extensive halls via markings along the walls and floor pointing towards key rooms and locations. She was heading to the ships high-speed transit system, an absolute necessity for miles long military ships like the Melody.

As the train began accelerating past Mach one, she couldn't help but worry about how her superiors might have reacted to her utterly unprofessional behavior on world. Captain Alexandria might have been fine with it and understanding enough of her situation to let it pass. But what about the more protocol oriented officers, officers like Lieutenant Commander Benjamin? People like him certainly would not tolerate a break of protocol and the rules of engagement because someone under their command got a little emotional. All in all, this little stunt was probably going to affect future deployments of her military career for _decades_ to come. All too soon, the train came to a stop in the crews quarters section of the ship.

Erika got off and navigated the halls, until she arrived at the door to her own personal quarters. Being an officer of her rank afforded her certain luxuries, like her own personal room. She opened the door, revealing a relatively bare bones room that was barely larger than a walk-in closet, with a small singles bed and a coffee table that doubled as her computer desk. A civilian would think it was horrible, but a military veteran like Erika thought it was a penthouse compared to most places she had been forced to sleep when she could no longer stay awake.

Erika closed the door softly behind her and sighed as her armor shifted and retracted until only a cuirass remained. She unfastened the armor with her magic, and placed it by the door before walking over and throwing herself onto her bed. Lying on her bed, Erika turned her head towards her computer on the coffee table, which appeared to be a shiny black plastic rectangular brick that had no discernible features. Little purple sparks danced across Erika's muzzle as she commanded the computer to turn on. Recognizing her magical signature, the computer instantly turned on its holographic projectors and displayed her desktop. It was a picture of her and her brother Conrad, both of them fully grown; she was smiling pleasantly, and Conrad had that ever present mischievous smile of his plastered across his face. She opened the music player, selected a techno remix, and put it on repeat before closing her eyes and listening to it as the room's lights darkened.

As Erika laid in her bed listening to her music, her mind began wandering to the subject of her race. Despite what she had said earlier about not wanting anything to do with her race anymore, she still wanted to find them. She wanted to learn about her race's histories and its cultures. She wanted to know what they did in their day to day lives, about what they considered fun. She wanted to see what life was like among people like her… for a time at least.

It was a supreme disappointment to discover her people were ruled by nobles. She could only imagine what life was like for the commoners of her race. To be restricted knowledge, and destined for a life of poverty and servitude from the day they were born. To be told how to do the jobs they did their entire lives, by someone who knew nothing about them. To be thought of as little better than dogs who could talk, and have nearly all their life's earnings taken away by greedy nobles who waste it away on wines, whores and jewels.

Well she would not have that. Her people would know of Atlantis and her glories. They would experience the peace and freedoms all Atlantean citizens took for granted. They would feel its power and majesty.

Captain Alexandria was right, she was a Gefallen. The name came with a huge amount of respect and influence, and Erika would use both of them as much as she could. She would pull as many strings as possible to get what she needed. By the time everything was said and done, she should be at the forefront of an invasion… no, a _liberation_ fleet, ready to free her people from the tyranny of the nobility. Her people would know what it was like to be an Atlantean citizen.

"I swear it." Erika vowed.

**-the holding cells-**

The five Elements of Harmony now sat in a small rectangular room. The room's door was blocked with a white translucent barrier, and off in the corner was a toilet with a perforated metal wall to provide some privacy. The five dejected mares each now wore orange shirts altered to fit, with serial numbers on the back.

"Ohhh…" Fluttershy sniffed and prodded at her uncomfortable prison shirt. "What's going to happen to us? What are they going to do to us, are they going to send us to a prison?"

Fluttershy's eyes widened at the thought of being sent to a dark, terrible citadel (of doom) full of unnatural things and mean prison guards (also of doom). It has to be said, that because of the restively docile nature of ponies, there never had been much of a need for actual prisons. Yet the idea has been put forth several times, and often came out in pony fantasy books. Naturally, the prisons in these books were fantastically over the top dark (and of doom). However, due to a lack of real experience, Fluttershy, like the rest of the mares in the holding cell, was drawing from this knowledge to paint a picture of what to expect.

"I-I don't w-want to go to p-prison!" Fluttershy began stuttering at the thought of being thrown in the dankest, darkest cell and being left alone. "I'll never be able to take it!"

Applejack wobbled over on her now weakened legs, and pulled Fluttershy into a hug.

"Shh, there, there sugarcube." She comforted the fearful Pegasus. "Everything will turn out alright, you'll see." Although she was beginning to have doubts, as things seemed to be getting progressively worse, rather than better as time went on.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "And if any pony, or whatever they are, tries to do anything with you, I'll beat their flanks into next week!" Although Rarity and Applejack could tell that Rainbow Dash's usual confidence was more than a bit forced, it still had the effect of cheering Fluttershy up somewhat.

"Yes darling, everything will be fine." Rarity added. "As long as we're together, we can get through anything." She decided not to mention that their captors could easily separate them, and in their weakened states they would never be able to resist such an attempt. Or that they were technically not all together, as Twilight, or Erika as she now called herself, was no longer with them or even on their side on that matter.

"Yeah so don't worry, turn that frown upside down!" Pinkie Pie hopped over as she added her own two cents. "As soon as we get back we'll have our own welcome back party!"

Unfortunately, all the ponies' efforts to calm Fluttershy dissolved in an instant, as the barrier blocking the door flickered and died, and a figure of pure intimidation and fear walked in.

It was a bipedal creature like nearly all the others they had seen on the ship, but it terrified them like no other. It stood at over five feet, and wore a pitch black trench coat with a blood red cloak that had the hood pulled down. The face was covered by some sort of sleek gasmask, and it wore a black, peaked cap with a strange, dark pink lambda symbol on the front over his mask.

"I am Operative Daniel of the AIB, the Atlantean Intelligence Bureau." His crisp partially synthesized tone rang out. "I will be interrogating you five until I, and my superiors are satisfied. Try not to resist, I would rather this not get… unpleasant."

"Look here buddy I don't care what fancy title you've got, but if you try to even get near Fluttershy I'll…" Rainbow Dash started.

"You'll what?" Daniel said simply. "You don't seem to comprehend the situation you are in. I have the authority to do whatever is needed to retrieve the information I want from you five. That means if I wanted to, I could have you skinned alive, healed, and skinned again. And I could keep doing this until I had enough of your hide to clothe everyone on this ship. And my superiors would not care, as long as I got what was needed. In fact, they might just thank me for getting them such nice fur coats." He ran the back of his gloved hand along Dash's cheek; she tried to flinch away, but she literally put herself into a corner.

"You have no idea how many ways I can torture you and get away with it." Daniel stated, bringing his masked face close to Dash's. "I could have you burned alive, your wings plucked, or have your hooves ripped out of your legs. I could do the same to each of you and force the rest to watch and hear, and there is nothing you could do to stop…" The room became silent as Daniel suddenly stopped.

Daniel had actually used the talk of the mares' imminent torture to distract their minds and make it easier for him, a Mind Mage, to collect precise information from their memories. So while he was busy horrifying the ponies, he was also doing a precision mind plunge on Rainbow Dash. Seeing things from her viewpoint was incredibly different from what Captain Sparkly's HUD had shorn. It was also far odder. They honestly believed that the Captain had only been gone for forty five days, and the captain's Equestrain name was Twilight Sparkle. If Daniel was any less of a professional, he would have laughed aloud upon discovering this. The memories finally got to the point of the teleport, and became odder still. The teleport looked more like a dimensional crossover that the mages in the PMD corps got up to every now and then. If the implications of this were true, then it seemed the good Captain was extra-dimensional. Going further back, he started seeing memories from their home world and dimension, like how Captain Sparkly was a fully grown mare when she was sent across the dimensional boundary, and how the ponies in the room worried endlessly about her.

Daniel backed away from Dash and turned to the other ponies, doing a quick mind plunge on each. He confirmed with absolute certainty that the memories, though seen from different point of views, were completely accurate and truthful. He quickly exited the cell, leaving the now confused ponies behind him and hurried through the halls.

Following the directions on the wall he eventually came to, and entered, a room marked "Sector Control". The room was circular and its walls were covered by holographic computer screen, along with arrays of consoles beneath them. Seated at a small circular table in the center of the room were two Naval Mages, eating pastries and drinking coffee.

"Operative Daniel, sir!" they shouted with surprise.

"Open a com channel to Atlantis immediately." He ordered.

"Of course sir!" They replied and leapt for the consoles.

Daniel stood in front of the screens and waited. Mere seconds later, the digital image of the AI that ran Atlantis' communications, appeared.

"Operative Daniel." The AI greeted courteously. "How may I assist you?"

"I have an important massage for the Emperor." Daniel stated. "Tell him it's about his daughter Erika."

"One moment…" The AI said as it sent the massage.

Not half a minute later, the immensely agitated, hooded and scarfed face of Ezekiel Gefallen appeared on screen.

"REPORT, what is wrong with my daughter?" Daniels swallowed as pink electricity began to dance along Ezekiel's features.

"Nothing is wrong with Erika, Emperor Ezekiel." Daniel said as he attempted to placate the angry father. "But I have found incredible information regarding her origins sir."

"Really?" Ezekiel stated with interest. "Start from the beginning Operative."

"Yes sir, your daughter started her mission at…" Daniels began as he explained everything he had found.


	5. Codex : Ranks and Units

Alantean Military

TERMINALOGY

War mage= General military term

Field mage= Ground forces

Air mage= Air forces

Navel mage= Orbital forces

Golem= Technomagical Robot

GROUND FORCES

Fireteam=5 Field Mages

Squad-2 Fireteams= 10 Field Mages

Platoon- 4 squads= 40 Field Mages

Company- 5 Platoons= 200 Field Mages

Battalion- 5 Companys= 1000 Field Mages

Regiment- 10 Battalions= 10,000 Field Mages

Division- 4 regiments= 40,000 Field Mages

Corps- 5 Divisions =200,000 Field Mages

Field Army- 5 Corps 1,000,000 Field Mages

Army Group-10 Field Armies= 10,000,000 Field Mages

Legion- 10 Army groups= 100,000,000 Field Mages

Theater- 10 Legions (depending on importance of conflict, averages at 10) = 1,000,000,000 Field Mages

AIR FORCES

Section= 3 Air Mages

Flight- 3 Section= 9 Air Mages

Squadron- 3 Flights= 19 Air Mages

Wing- 4 Squadrons= 76 Air Mages

Tactical Air Company (TAC) - 3 Wings= 238 Air Mages

ORBITAL FORCES

Note: Ship classes after Corvette carry an attachment of support and boarding golems.

Fast Attack Craft= 10 Navel mages

Orbital Patrol Vessel= 15 Navel Mages

Corvette= 30 Navel Mages

Frigate= 100 Navel Mages 2000 Golems

Destroyer= 200 Navel Mages 5000 Golems

Cruiser= 400 Navel Mages 10,000 Golems

Battle Cruiser= 500 Navel Mages 40,000 Golems

Dreadnought= 1000 Navel mages 100,000 Golems

Battleship= 2000 Navel Mages 1,000,000 Golems

Carrier- 10 TACs= 10000 Navel Mages 2380 Air Mages 5,000,000 Golems

Dedicated Carrier- 100 TACs= 2000 Navel Mages 23,800 Air Mages 1,000,000 Golems

OFFICER RANKS

:

FIELD MAGE RANKS

Officer Cadet

2nd Lieutenant

Lieutenant

Captain

Major

Lieutenant Colonel

Colonel

Brigadier

General

Field Marshall

AIR MAGE RANKS

Officer Cadet

Pilot Officer

Flying Officer

Flight Lieutenant

Squadron Leader

Wing Commander

Sky Captain

Air Commodore

Air Marshall

Marshall of the Air Mages

NAVAL MAGE RANKS

Midshipman

Ensign

Sub-Lieutenant

Lieutenant

Lieutenant Commander

Commander

Captain

Commodore

Admiral

Admiral of the Fleet

AN: Yeah most of this is ripped from military Wikipedia pages and altered to suit my needs :P


	6. Chapter 5 : Summons

Erika stood proudly on the stage. She had finally done it. She had finally earned entry into the PMD corps. But not only was she on the verge of being an official PMD, she was the youngest to date, at only a hundred years old. The youngest ever before her was three hundred. The absolute best part of this however, was that her father was the one accepting her into the corps.

"Erika Gefallen." Ezekiel spoke solemnly, but practically glowed with pride at his daughter's accomplishment. "Your power has been seen as unstoppable, your experience is unquestionable, your drive to serve Atlantis and protect her citizens, undeniable. You have been marked as a worthy candidate for the PMD corps. Do you accept?"

Erika felt there was only one answer any true Atlantean could possibly make. "I accept." She was glad she was wearing her armor, so no one could see the solitary tear of joy leak from her eye.

"Then I, Ezekiel Gefallen Gott Morder, first Emperor of Atlantis, do hereby name you a PMD Mage!" Ezekiel shouted grandly. "Take this as a sign of your accomplishments."

Erika bowed, as her father placed a black medallion over her neck. The medallion had a pink diamond embedded in the middle, between the 'legs' of the iconic, dark pink lambda symbol of Atlantis. Underneath the diamond and symbol, was three silver letters, PMD.

Erika turned and strode proudly to the front of the stage. Before her was a vast crowd of cheering ponies, now Atlantean citizens. She had fulfilled the oath she had made to herself over fifty years ago. Taking advantage of her name, she had lead a liberation fleet to her home world, hidden in the depths of space, and freed her race from the shackles of the cruel nobility. Ever since then, she had seen to it herself that her world and people were uplifted and developed to become a productive member of the Empire. And she was loved for it.

And now…

Now she was on the surface of a world in its death throes. The planet itself was one of the few worlds that had developed naturally to be able to sustain life, and was the center of an enemy alien empire. The people had since fallen to Atlantean magic and gun, but there was one force on the world that would not surrender. The race's pantheon of gods had arisen to do what their own creations could not.

An entire regiment of Field Mages, with air and orbital support, fought long and hard against the enraged alien gods. They had succeeded in killing and crippling a majority of them, but these particular gods had proven themselves tougher than most. Finally, command had had enough with these divine beings and their petulant temper tantrum and called in a PMD, namely Erika herself.

She was in the thick of it with the last twelve gods. Missed strikes from her hooves caused great rents in the ground so deep she could see magma, and errant spark bolts erased vast swathes of land from existence. This was what it meant to be a PMD, to be only called upon when the Empire faced the unholy and divine alike, to be the very center and cause of the storm, to possess the strength to shatter entire worlds with your hands alone, to be Atlantis' weapon of death and mass destruction. To be a Person of Mass Destruction.

During a lull in the battle, Erika took the opportunity to examine her foes. The twelve froglike gods of a now defeated amphibian race stood seemingly unbowed and unaffected by her power. Erika however was not fooled; she could see the little signs of fatigue setting in. The little wounds that were not healing instantly, the way they didn't quite hold themselves in that self-righteous, arrogant manner anymore. And she could hear, rather than see, the fatal weakness; seven of them were wheezing ever so slightly.

Erika immediately moved to strike, the very speed of which caused a deafening boom as she broke the sound barrier instantly. Five of the gods leapt away and out of harm's way, the other seven however did not. Erika rapidly zigzagged between each god, spearing them all through the chest as they struggled to move out of the way. The seven gods warbled in pain, and clutched at the gaping wounds in their chests.

Then they each released a reverberating roar of agony, as their very beings began to collapse. The wounded gods exploded as one into starbursts of divine energy, the ensuing explosions vaporized vast tracts of land around and beneath them.

Now floating in the air, Erika retracted her helmet and let a satisfied smile grace her features, and she lowered the magical shield she had created to protect herself. After taking a look at the massive bowl the deaths of the gods had created in the ground, she smirked mockingly at the remaining five. They roared in indigent rage and frustration, and warbled battle cries in their language as they abandoned all pretense of a battle plan. Facing the five charging gods, Erika could only smile smugly.

The first to reach her swiped at her with its webbed hand, which she easily ducked. Now overextended, the god was open to attack, which Erika did by head-butting it in the stomach. With the added benefit of goring it on her horn, Erika began channeling magic, and released a spark bolt inside her opponent, sending him flying into the sky. Roaring in pain, the god rose ever higher until he exploded in a starburst.

Erika was already on the second one, which charged at her with its fists above its head, intending to smash her into the ground far below. Erika dashed forward and shot up between its arms as they descended, the god had enough time to look up at her, as she released a massive violet lightning bolt from her mouth and vaporized its head. The headless corpse floated for a moment, before falling to the ground and exploding midair.

Unheeding the violent deaths of their fellows, two more charged her at the same time, intending to catch her between their strikes. Erika made use of her far smaller frame and darted between each strike. The two gods' fury grew as they missed their prey more and more, inadvertently hitting each other more and more often. Finally, with matching snarls of blind rage, they lashed out with all their might and promptly missed their target and struck each other in the throat. They grasped at their throats and began to choke, as their divine power struggled to repair the crushed windpipes. Erika took advantage of this by darting around one and charging headfirst into its back, smashing it into the other. She kept going for a second, before doing a front flip and spiking the two gods like a volleyball with her back legs, propelling them into the ground. Erika's form became incandescent with violet sparks, before releasing dozens upon dozens of them into the crater the two had made.

Erika stared with grim satisfaction as the crater blew up in a familiar explosion, before a shadow fell over her. Erika turned fast enough to catch the two webbed fists from the final god with her hooves. They struggled for moment before chains of violet electricity appeared from Erika's forelegs, and wrapped themselves around the god's arms, eliciting a snarl of pain. The final god tried to release its self from the magical chains, as it noticed Erika building up a large spark bolt… it failed. Erika was left holding two dismembered arms as the god was treated to a ride via spark bolt. In the distance, Erika saw an explosion, but it wasn't a starburst one signifying the god's death.

Erika found the god barely alive on the devastated landscape. Its weakened divine powers struggled in vainly to repair the damage and regrow its arms. Erika landed next to it and raised one of her hooves above its head.

"C-curse you…" It warbled in its language. "… Fucking ATLANTEAN!"

Her hoof descended with a squelch. Erika allowed the inevitable explosion to wash over her, and burn away all the filth on her. Now feeling much cleaner, she turned to her father who had been watching from a distance the entire time.

He could have helped at any time, but he didn't. He knew she was strong enough to handle this on her own. Erika retracted her armor until it was only a cuirass, and gave a massive smile at her father who eagerly returned it.

"Daddy!" She yelled and leapt at him, forelegs outstretched to wrap him in a hug. Erika had decided to screw protocol; she was practically at the top of the command food chain, and if anyone had a problem with it, they could kiss here purple tailed ass.

Ezekiel gave an amused laugh and opened his arms to catch her. Just as they made contact with each other, the world began to flash red and an alarm blared over the devastated landscape.

Erika's eyes snapped open as she awoke from what she considered one of the best dreams she ever had. The lights in her room were on, and flashing red as an alarm continued to blare. She shot out of her bed and donned her armor, she waited impatiently for it to shift and cover her completely, before dashing out the door.

Naval Mages and support golems filled the halls as they ran for their stations. Erika decided to get to the bottom of the situation.

"You there, stop!" She called out to a passing Naval Mage.

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Do you know what is going on?" Erika asked him "What is the reason for the alarm? Are we being attacked?"

"No, Ma'am." The Naval Mage answered. "The captain got a message from Emperor Ezekiel himself, stating he wished the ship to return to the capital as fast as possible. The Captain immediately ordered all on world squads to return to the ship and abandon our Terror Mission."

"Thank you for telling me Ensign." She said, after taking a glance at the mage's shoulder. "Off to your duties."

"Yes, Ma'am."

As she made her way to the high-speed transit, Erika thought about why her father had ordered the ship to return to the home system. Maybe it was because someone told him about the prisoners being the same species as her? While Erika considered that an important discovery personally, she could not think of a reason why it would be important for the whole Empire. There had to be a greater reason for cancelling their mission and calling them.

'_In the end, it doesn't matter though.'[/i] Erika thought to herself. [i]'The Emperor calls and as loyal Warmages, we obey_.'

Arriving at the transit station, Erika took a train heading to the core sectors of the ship. Unlike before when she took the transit, it was full of crewmembers getting to their stations this time. While waiting for the train to arrive at their destinations, the crewmembers were excitedly discussing why the Emperor called for the ship.

"I heard one of the squads on the ground found something important." Erika heard one say.

"Really, what was it?" Asked another.

"No, what I heard was they recovered something from a noble's ship they shot down." One interrupted

"Hmmm… don't you think it might have something to do with prisoners we took on recently?"

"You think so Ben?"

"Must you call me that, Lieutenant Maya?" Ben asked. "It's informal enough that you don't bother with your superior's rank. The least you could do is call me Benjamin."

"Only with you Ben." Maya giggled. "Only with you."

Benjamin gave an exasperated sigh.

The ride was relatively short, and soon Erika was stepping on to the platform and making her way to the bridge at the heart of the ship. In a short amount of time, Erika arrived at, and entered, the bridge.

Most people think of the front of the ship when they think of the bridge. However, that just makes a rather discomforting weak point for the ship's commander, as well as allowing a bomber's trench run fantasies. Unless it's a fighter or a small bomber, a ship's bridge will always be at its center, safely behind bulkheads and plating rated for short star immersion and planetoids impacts. The Melody's bridge was pretty ran of the mill; large and circular with holograms depicting the surroundings, and was as busy as a beehive with rings and rings of computer consoles.

As Erika navigated the small maze of computer consoles to reach Captain Alexandria at the center, she noticed something odd. The five mares she had taken prisoner were there, and not in a holding cell. They were wearing the standard issue clothes, modified to fit them, and looked to be very nervous while examining every little thing that beeped and flashed or otherwise made noise. Erika made a note to ask about why they were on the bridge later, after she asked Captain Alexandria about her father.

"Ahh, Sparkly." Alexandria greeted Erika. "Just in time, I was about to order the jump."

"Captain, I just came by to ask if you knew why the Emperor summoned us."

"Emperor Ezekiel has asked me to bring them to him." Alexandria pointed to the fives ponies nearby. "He did not state why, and I did not bother to ask."

Erika began to think about this. What was so important that her father would have a mission canceled? Did the interrogation procedure discover something important? It could also be that she was just over thinking this, as she tended to do that, and her father was simply happy that she had finally found her race. All further thoughts on the matter were interrupted by the arrival of one of the ship's Apothecaries, and the noble she brought on board.

The Apothecary wore a pristine white uniform, with a blue caduceus emblazoned on the chest, and had brown eyes with short black hair. He was supporting a very exhausted looking Alicorn. It appeared that the Sun Princess' restraint had been replaced with a sleeker looking one with four white crystals on the front, and one large one on the back. Celestia herself looked horrible, her wings were extended and dragged lazily on the floor, she seemed to stumble every other step, and she had bags under her eyes and kept her head low to the ground, like she couldn't keep it up all the way.

They slowly made their way through the consoles to reach the center, where Erika and Alexandria were, Celestia being supported by the Apothecary the entire way. When they reached the center, the Apothecary led Celestia to her ponies and then walked to Erika and Alexandria.

"Sub-Lieutenant Jason." Erika greeted.

"Ma'am." Jason Saluted.

"I noticed that noble has one of the more powerful models restraining her now." Erika stated. "I was wondering what the reason for that was."

"You see ma'am." Jason started. "Operative Daniel ordered me to replace her MSR with a more powerful model immediately after he completed his interrogation. In actuality, I was going to do that anyways since the capacitor on the one she was wearing was rapidly wearing out. I asked the Operative about this, but he told me it was of no concern. Personally ma'am, I am still a little worried, you do know just how much it takes to even begin burning out the average MSR right?"

"Indeed." Erika replied looking over to Celestia with narrowed eyes.

"H-hello my little ponies…" Celestia said, so tired she simply lay down on the floor. "I… I hope you all are alright."

"Oh my!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Princess!" Fluttershy darted to Celestia's side and began rubbing her back. "You look horrible! They… they didn't hurt you did they?"

"No they did not hurt me in any way." Celestia reassured them. "I just feel so tired and weak…"

"Yeah join the club." Dash muttered angrily as she tried to make her wings do more than weakly flutter.

"Dash!" Applejack said reproachfully and raised a leg to give her a whack, only to stumble and fall onto Rainbow Dash instead.

"Even when I was a filly, I was never this helpless." Celestia continued to Rarity and Fluttershy, as Applejack and Rainbow Dash were busy fighting and Pinkie was off badgering a technician with random questions. "I can still feel my power, but it's like it's so far away and behind so many walls…"

Erika stared, amused at the scene of Rainbow Dash and Applejack wrestling with each other on the ground. As fun as it was to watch the two argue and fight each other, they were still civilians on the bridge, causing a disturbance. But that wasn't her jurisdiction, so she resolved to just ask the Captain why they were on the bridge.

"Captain, why are the prisoners here and not in the holding cells?" She asked.

"When the Emperor asked me to bring them to him, he said to keep them close and protected." Captain Alexandria replied. "So I'm keeping them with me until we get to Atlantis."

"And how long will that take Captain?"

"The engines and power cores will be pushed to the breaking point." Captain Alexandria stated. "The Emperor called for us personally, and we will get there as quickly as possible. It should take us about three hours to arrive on the outskirts of the home system."

**-Sol system roughly three hours later-**

The lights in the hangar bay flickered and died as the ship's main power cores went into emergency shutdown, nearly burned out from the rapid trip. They turned back on a moment later with a hum, as the backup generators activated.

Erika, with her armor retracted to a cuirass, Captain Alexandria, and the six ponies turned prisoners were in the cavernous hangar bays of the Melody. While the engineering crews had been pushing the ship to the limit, they had moved there to be picked up by a ship from the Gefallen Family Compound.

"They should be here any minute now." Alexandria stated.

Celestia approached the two Atlantean officers.

"Excuse me? Erika, right? I just wanted to…"

"Do not speak to me noble!" Erika growled. "It's enough I didn't execute you, now I have to talk to you? No, just stand over there with the other prisoners."

Celestia got a hurt look in her eye and frowned sadly. Obeying the order, she turned back and stumbled her way to the other ponies. Erika frowned in distaste as she watched this.

"Why do my species have to be so cute looking?" She muttered darkly. "I don't need to feel bad for doing my duty."

Captain Alexandria hummed in agreement.

After several minutes of awkward silence, a ship entered the hangar's atmospheric barrier. It was easily a hundred feet long and fifty at its tallest point. The ships overall shape and decoration made it appear to have a sort of shell like surface similar to a lobster, albeit, a lobster missing its arms and coated entirely in polished bronze.

As the ship lowered to the floor, several 'legs' opened up from somewhere underneath, adding to its crustacean appearance. Part of the ship's side opened up, allowing a ramp to lower onto the floor. Out walked a man in an immaculate suit, with long silvery hair tied into a ponytail. As he approached, one defining feature other than his hair became clear, his long pointed ears.

"Greetings and salutations, I am Adam, the Gefallen family's head butler!" He said with cheer before turning to Erika. "Ahh, the young Madame Erika. It has been too long since your last visit! Everyone will so glad to see you again."

Adam walked forward, past the two officers and approached the ponies, namely Celestia.

"And you must be the noble, Princess Celestia." He said with a charming smile. "Ezekiel is most eager to meet your acquaintance. Come along now! Mustn't keep him waiting, everyone follow me!"

Celestia didn't know what to make of that. However from what she experienced of these creatures so far, she didn't think it was a good thing. This unease was reinforced, and she was stunned momentarily, when she saw utterly murderous hate in Erika's eyes, but she quickly followed the long eared creature into the ship.

Erika had known the noble she captured was obviously of the ruling class of her people. However, she did not know the noble was actual Royalty, the people who made the rules that the 'lesser' nobles followed. Had she known this particular fact, the noble may not have survived their first meeting, or at the very least would have lost a few limbs.

Erika ground her teeth in irritation at the fact she couldn't exactly touch the Princess, now that her father wanted her and her entourage unharmed when he met them. She simply hoped this situation would not last past the meeting, and followed the ponies onto the ship.

"Thank you for bringing them in such a timely manner, Captain Alexandria." Adam called from the top of the ramp. "I will personally make sure your ship is refitted as quickly as possible so you can be redeployed."

"We live to serve." Alexandria saluted the elven servant and began walking back to her bridge.

The ship was a civilian model, and thus catered to people who preferred to travel in comfort rather than do without, like Warmages. Silken seats stuffed with Egyptian cotton, a large clear section of wall for a massive holo-screen projection, stained oak tables with marble tops, and so much more.

The ponies, despite not knowing the fact, could see the interior of this ship was very luxurious compared to the far larger Melody. They wanted to linger a bit and explore their new surroundings, but Erika stood at the other end of the room beside the door their elven escort just entered, waving them over impatiently. Not wanting to anger their old friend now turned volatile stranger, they quickly followed.

They entered a long half-cylinder hallway with many side doors, and a set of double doors at the far end opposite them. They quickly caught up to their escort who was a quarter of the way through the hall. As they made their way to the double doors, the ponies turning their heads this way and that to catch glimpses of foreign sights through open doors. Most of them anyway, Celestia was too busy focusing on keeping up, with Rainbow and Fluttershy supporting her, to sate any curiosity she might have had.

The room behind the double doors was the cockpit of the ship. It had furnishings just as grand and expensive looking as the first room they entered, and if anything, the pilot's seat looked overstuffed. Adam hung his coat on the back of the seat and waved both his hands in front of him. Immediately, the hologram controls for the ship appeared, and Adam pressed a button.

Another hologram appeared, this time a golem rather than controls of any kind. It had the same bronze colored armor and helmet as the Murmilo patterned ones, but had a crest of red fibers instead of solid metal, and a crimson cape clasped over its shoulder.

"Heeeeey, Adam how's it hanging buddy?" Its partially synthesized, masculine voice rang out. "Did ya see the game last night? MLG tournament final rounds! Team Mini-Boss had it in the bag!"

"Yes I did see the game last night Taylor." Adam said to his AI friend. "Listen I'm on business right now, could you set a course back to the Gefallen Family Compound for me?"

"Sallright, I know how bad you are at flying AND navigating." Taylor replied. "Seriously though, how could anyone be bad at navigating? It's practically just point and click. I've played RTS' that were more complicated than that."

"…Taylor, you left the screen open… again." Adam coughed, looking embarrassed at his failing being revealed in front of strangers. The conversion was in Atlantean however, so he needn't have bothered, as the ponies couldn't understand a word.

"Oh, my bad." With that, the screen disappeared and the ship began moving.

Soon the ship was sailing through the black sea that was space, and the ponies were presented with quite the sight. At the speed they were going, most small things streaked past, but the sure amount of 'streaks' in the home system was staggering. Then there were the things that were big enough to be seen somewhat clearly. Massive battleships, miles long, as sleek as a shark, and bearing an uncountable amount of guns, defense satellites that were as big as planetoids, and immense blurs of what could only be entire fleets of ships swam past the windows of the cockpit for the stunned ponies to see.

Before long, the ship began to slow and everyone was treated with the image of Atlantis. It was blanketed with a suffocating cloud of ships and space stations. The visible night side twinkled like an overloaded Christmas tree in danger of bursting into flames. Massive lanes of civilian ships extended out from thousands of points on the planet, before being allowed to fly their own paths. For the members of a race that hadn't left their own planet's surface, beyond the odd lunar banishment, Atlantis was a breath taking sight to behold.

Their destination was not the planet itself however. The ship headed for a small, in relative to everything else, sphere of clouds in orbit over the day side of the planet, and soon enough, the ship had plunged through the clouds and come through to the other side.

Erika stared in contentment at the sight of the compound, her home since she had been found in one of its large gardens forty five years ago. It had not changed one bit, its thick spires still soared high into the air, its interior walls were still purposefully overgrown with plants, the waterfalls from the central spire flowed as they always did, and the compound itself floated as massively as it always had. The large finned blimp like ship with a message board on the side was new though.

The large ship orbited the compound slowly with its message board flashing short sentences. 'Stop the Harlen massacres!' was one 'Outsiders are people too!' was another, and 'Warmages are supposed to be soldiers, not terrorists!' was the final one before they looped.

Erika sighed at this. Once when she was little, she had asked her father why some people would appear around their home in those ships and start making messages like that. He said it was because they had the right to free speech. Even though they had the right, Erika wished civilians would keep their noses out of military affairs. They didn't take in the whole picture most of the time, and they often only focused on what the Empire was doing, rather than what the other guy was doing as well. Overall, she thought they shouldn't go looking for these things if they were going to be so uselessly upset over them.

As their ship aimed to land in a large courtyard, the ponies stared, entranced by the large ship despite not comprehending its message.

The group of six ponies and two Atlanteans left the ship once it landed. The six ponies looked all around them, amazed by the sure size of the structure they were on now. Celestia always thought of her palace as beautiful and a symbol of pony engineering, but there just no comparison to this. The five mares were equally astounded, as there was just nothing that was ever built by their kind that could approach this mega-structure.

"Ahem!" Erika was really getting annoyed with these six. Couldn't they walk five feet without staring stupidly at inane things? "If you are done gawking at some walls, we could go see the Emperor now."

Soon the group found themselves standing before a massive set of doors that towered just as high as the spires in Celestia's castle. With a surprising amount of speed and lack of noise, the doors swung forward, allowing them entry into the Gefallen Family Compound.

The hall was just as massive as everything else. Judging by the number of balconies they could see, the ponies guessed that there were ten floors lined along this particular hall. Arches stretched into the distant ceiling, providing support for the massive superstructure. Large chandeliers hung precariously by single large chains, somehow providing enough light for the entire hall.

The servant leading them suddenly stopped. The ponies wondered what was going on, until a creature like the others they'd met appeared from a side passage. He wore a black cloak and clothes, along with a pink silk scarf hiding the lower half of his ashen features.

"Father." Erika beamed at him for a brief moment before schooling her features. "Emperor Ezekiel, you asked for the prisoners I took, and I have brought them with the help of the Sadistic Melody's Captain."

Ezekiel's eyes became alight with amusement at his daughter's formal tone. He stepped forward until he stood in front of her. Then he reached down and placed a hand on her head.

"You have been away from home for too long…" Erika could practically see the smirk behind his scarf. "My little Erika."

Erika blushed, both in embarrassment and indignity at being called her pet title in front of present company. She was forty five years old and her father still thought of her as his little girl. She sighed, wondering if he was ever going to stop calling her that.

'_Are you going to stop being my daughter?_' Ezekiel projected into her thoughts.

_'So, never huh?'_ Erika projected back.

_'Indeed.'_

With that, Ezekiel walked past Erika towards the six ponies. He stopped a few feet away from them and crossed his arms and stared at them.

Upon meeting his pink gaze, Celestia immediately decided she did not like it. His eyes had hidden depths far deeper than any ocean as they studied and calculated. She felt like her entire being was laid out before him, to dissect and judge as he saw fit, like there was nothing she could hide from him should he wish to find it. It… it was like her own stare in so many ways. Suddenly he smiled.

"As you might know I am Ezekiel Gefallen, Emperor of Atlantis." He then glanced at their restraints and gestured at Adam. "Those are no longer necessary."

Adam nodded and snapped his fingers, and six elven maids and butlers appeared out of the side passages and began to remove the machines from the ponies. At this Erika ran up Ezekiel.

"Are you sure this is a good idea father?" Erika asked, feeling that formality in her own home was pushing it. "They are in our home after all."

"Exactly Erika, they are in the Gefallen Family Compound." Ezekiel replied with a smile. "Any violence they might commit would not last long, and neither would they if they committed to such an action."

Erika knew that, but it was just the principle of the matter. You just did not let strangers that were pretty much your enemies wander around your house without some form of control over them. However, the threat of immediate and brutal punishment would have to do.

Their jobs done, the elves took the restraints and left into the side passages. The six ponies who had been wearing them immediately began to enjoy being free again.

Rainbow Dash began to fly about the hall, doing loop de loops and whooping as she went, while Fluttershy just hovered about in the air, glad to be able to fly again. Rarity smiled as she manipulated a nearby vase with her returned magic. Pinkie Pie began to prance and dance about as her boundless energy returned, and Applejack seemed to match her in hyperactive energy. The only one who did not visibly react to the removal of the restraining machines was Celestia herself.

Celestia was glad to be rid of the device to be sure, but as she stretched out her wings and legs, she couldn't help but wonder what the reason behind this was. Obviously, they were utterly helpless with the machines on and would not be able to cause any mischief, especially Celestia. There had to a deeper reason behind this, there had to be!

Deciding he wasn't a bad whatever he was, Pinkie bounded forward and presented her hoof to Ezekiel.

"HI! I'm Pinkie Pie!" She introduced herself happily. "And I like parties!"

Chuckling in amusement, Ezekiel went down onto one knee and grasped the pink pony's hoof.

"Ezekiel Gefallen Gott Morder." He introduced himself with equal enthusiasm. "And I love my family."

"Ohhh, do you have any foals?" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"We don't call them foals, but yes I do." Ezekiel replied. "About three older ones walking and talking, recently got a pair of twins as well."

"Can I see them? Can I, can I, please!"

"Heh heh heh, absolutely why not?" Ezekiel laughed. "You should introduce yourself to the help to be polite though."

Ezekiel pointed behind him to the six servants who had returned and now stood beside Adam. Nodding happily, Pinkie bounded towards them and began introducing herself and asking them if they like parties. Ezekiel turned around to watch her antics with amusement before speaking aloud.

"That is quite the unique subject you have there, Princess Celestia." He said to the Alicorn. "Yes, I can see despite the fact you are a noble, these ponies of yours stand easily beside you and revere you with love and respect, which you did not ask for and neither do you take for granted or abuse. That is very rare for a noble and even rarer for a…"

Ezekiel turned his head back to look at Celestia out of the corner of his eyes.

"…God." He finished, pink pupils shining out of the shadow of his hood.


	7. Elsewhere Episode I : Codename Childlike

A mage stood on the precipice of the hangar's entrance. The only thing standing between the comfort of the ship and the harshness of the void was the atmospheric barrier before him.

The man was not just a mage, but a member of the vaunted PMD corps. A group that barely numbered a hundred thousand, a mere handful compared to the vastness of the Atlantean Empire and her legions of mages and golems. Being a member of such a group gave one in the military a staggering amount of freedoms. Freedoms like being able to wear casual clothes and not the uniform, like the PMD Mage was demonstrating.

He wore robes that covered him head to toe and were in bright cheerful colors. Quite the opposite of what one would expect from someone who is only called upon to reap unholy havoc on the enemies of Atlantis. Tied to his arms and hanging from certain points on his robes were long, bright yellow ribbons that would flow behind and around him as he moved. His hood was lowered, but his head was not uncovered. Upon his head was a bright green veil that left only his nose and bearded jaw uncovered.

Despite his eyes being covered, he stared out past the barrier into the space battle being played out silently before him.

There was only one Atlantean ship in orbit, it was a battleship, and it was the ship the mage was on. The alien fleet desperately fought for orbital dominance over their world, swarming the titanic ship with their numbers. It was akin to a great white shark finding itself inside a large school of minnows, and the battle was just as one sided as the description made it out to be.

'_Still_.' The PMD thought to himself. _'You can't help but admire the drive these Techno-Barbarians have to fight the inevitable.'_

The PMD reached up to the side of his head and tapped his ear.

"Captain Guinness, this is PMD Childlike." Childlike said into his com.

"Yes sir?" Guinness answered respectfully. Personally, Captain Guinness didn't understand why a PMD was here, since the situation was easily being handled by the mainstream military. But if a PMD wanted to be somewhere, then they damn well got to be there.

"I'm going to be joining the ground forces on the planet via a hard drop." Childlike informed the Captain, as he watched a wing of Air Mages rip apart entire divisions of enemy space fighters with ease. "I'm confident you can handle the mop-up up here without me. Please warn the commanders on the ground of my immediate arrival planet side. I don't particularly know where I'll be landing, but it will be a city, that is for certain."

"Yes sir, right away sir." Guinness replied. "Good hunting sir."

With that, Childlike took a step forward past the barrier and into the void.

As he floated away from the ship, Childlike took a look at his surroundings. Alien ships exploded with suddenness, yet regularity, like popcorn kernels. They pounded at the great Atlantean battleship, their combined firepower looked overwhelming, but washed over the Atlantean shields like rain. Alien fighters engaged in deadly dogfighting with Air Mages, their far superior numbers proving to be no help against the battle suited Mages, as they were outmaneuvered and overpowered.

Childlike aimed himself at the planet far below and accelerated past Mach speeds, instantly and silently. Fighters, cruisers, and frigates alike blurred past him as he shot towards the planet. A single war ship stood in his path, yet Childlike made no attempt to maneuver around it. He struck the shielded hull of an alien warship at little over seventeen hundred meters per second. The shield, designed to withstand focused nuclear explosions, flickered weakly before him, and a hull made to take asteroid strikes with ease crumpled as he impacted it. He continued forward, punching holes through floors and bulkheads alike, and even smashing through the bridge and meeting the alien captain's shocked gaze a fraction of a second. He continued on until he exited the hull of the ship on the opposite end from where he entered, and began entering the planet's atmosphere.

As friction of reentry cause the atmosphere around him to burn, Childlike pondered the reason he was here. He was here because he was bored really, the Empire was not in any current heavy weight wars, and everything was pretty calm for the most part. Hell, even the Astral Lords weren't acting up, but he wasn't totally sure if that was a good sign. Overall he was bored, but at the same time, this simply allowed him more time to experiment with his mind magic. Ultimately, that was his sole purpose for being in this petty, lightweight battle. There were tons of enemy soldiers he could use to further his experiments in the field of mind magic, and since they were the enemy, he didn't have to worry too much about protocol or red tape. Granted, the fact that they were aliens, and the different makeup of their minds, would alter the data somewhat, but it would still accomplish something.

The flames cleared from his vision, revealing roadways and farmlands as far as the eye could see. But in the distance, Childlike could make out the telltale silhouette of a city with skyscrapers. Changing his velocity to a more manageable rate, he headed for it.

In the time span of a few minutes, Childlike traversed the distance and arrived over the city. As he approached, he noticed the signs of resistance by the local planetary defense force; fields of farms pock marked with craters and covered with corpses or the odd vehicle wreck. The fields soon gave away to ash strewn devastation, with the corpses and vehicle wrecks becoming ever more common. The city itself was in a worse state. The few skyscrapers he saw on the horizon used to number far more, as the toppled ruins attested.

Childlike sighed as he took in the alien city in the grips of war. Atlantean commanders were typically told that battles over cities were completely unnecessary and should be avoided, as cities during a war were more of a liability than anything, just strategically mark prime targets within the city and avoid it. Of course, if urban battles were that easy to avoid, then they wouldn't still be using city themed battlegrounds during war-games.

Childlike continued to watch the city and took in key details. As was the situation in orbit, the Air Mages here were stuck with the ever tedious task of clearing the skies of an enemy that outnumbered them immensely. Dozens of Atlantean squads all over the city were being bogged down by both alien air and ground forces, as their own air forces were preoccupied with the enemy's. The alien ground forces had been pushed back over the fields, but outnumbered Atlantean forces fifty to one; however they no longer seemed to have vehicular support. Obviously the best course of action was freeing up the air forces to support the ground units.

Course of action decided, Childlike dove down until he was spotted. Several squadrons moved to intercept him, and attempt to shoot him down or otherwise distract him from the battle on the ground. Seeing this, Childlike's eyes glowed bright yellow through his veil in response.

The effect was almost immediate. The squadrons broke out of their formations and began flying erratically, before changing direction suddenly and crashing into each other mid-air. Childlike flew through the inky black clouds caused by the fighters' destruction and gazed all around him, eyes glowing all the while. As before, the pilots broke off from what they were doing and began to fly erratically. But this time, every single enemy fighter in the air over the city was affected. The fighters fixed their flight patterns and flew straight and level for a moment, before aiming towards the ground and crashing into concentrations of their own troops. In one attack, Childlike had cleared the skies of hundreds of fighters, and caused the enemy ground forces to suffer losses of up to forty percent of their force. Now bereft of their air forces, and sent into confusion by the mass kamikaze attack, the enemy forces were sent into a wild route.

Childlike flew over the city, looking for a nice large unit of soldiers he hadn't devastated. He found them a moment later. An entire company of soldiers were running down a ruined highway with little idea of what had happened. He orbited over them and studied them for a moment.

They were a form of avian species, but not the kind most people would imagine. They had colorful feathers sure, but those were mostly on the backs of their legs, shoulders, arms, and formed a crest atop of their head. They had black beaks as well, which were full of little carnivorous sharp teeth. Other than those distinct features, it would be exceedingly easy to mistake the creatures for reptiles, as they had shiny leathery brown skin, large, yellow, slitted eyes, and long, snakelike tails. They were each clothed in some ballistic armor that covered the torso, and knee length shorts, leaving their heads, arms and taloned feet and hands bare. Focusing magic into his eyes, Childlike could make out a sort of ranking system that resembled chevrons on the upper right breasts of the armor, only these were sideways to probably resemble beaks. Unsurprisingly, the one with the most 'beaks' also had the most plumed crest on his head. While their weapons were the basic sort of firearms any species would create, the rifles looked rather advanced and compact for slug throwers, although they had large triggers and grips to account for their talons. A few had long tubes on their shoulders that had the same type of trigger and grip, obviously a sort of anti-armor weapon.

Deciding he studied enough of his unsuspecting test subjects, Childlike went into a nose dive directly for them. He smashed into the ground in front of them with enough force to crack the road; he stood up and waited to see their reaction. They had their weapons trained on him, and their commander was shouting at him with his harsh grating voice and gesturing toward the ground. They were trying to get him to surrender?

_'My, how rational.'_ Childlike thought. _'I would have expected they try to kill me immediately. This is quite a step for a carnivorous species to restrain their innate aggression.'_

Seeing that he was not going to surrender, they opened fire on him. Childlike didn't bother to dodge the shots as they impacted a magical barrier. Seeing this, several of the soldiers with the anti-armor weapons came up and fired their payloads at him. Childlike slid across the ground several feet to the side, avoiding the rockets that screamed past him.

_'Enough of this, I have tests to run.'_ Childlike thought as his eyes glowed yellow through his veil.

The commander started clutching at his head and began howling in agony. It wasn't long before the several hundred troops he commanded began to mimic him. The entire company of avian soldiers stumbled about and screamed in sure agony, holding their heads as if the source of their pain was a horrific headache. Before long they were thrashing on the ground and their anguished howling could be heard for miles around.

Childlike stood calmly watching this. As the thrashing began to stop, replaced by the occasional twitch, and their howling began lessen, he raised an arm and pushed back the sleeve of his robe. On his wrist was a small device that began to project several holograms above it.

"Technique shows a marked increase in mental assault efficiency of two percent." Childlike said calmly into his wrist computer.

Soon the soldiers were lying silently on the ground, twitching with blank expressions. With that, Childlike flew off into the sky to find more test subjects and see if he could replicate his results with predictability.

This was how Childlike's time on the world went. He would fly about the city looking for groups of soldiers, and then mentally torture them until they were useless to him. When the city no longer had any more subjects to offer, he would contact a local commander to get the location of the nearest battle zone. Childlike would then fly to that location and continue his work. This went on for two battlefields and three cities until…

Childlike stood in the plaza of a far off city. It was full of the twitching, brain dead bodies of avian soldiers. He was holding one by the beak as he did some tests on it. The miserable creature was on its knees and its entire body was shaking, as its eyes rolled in its sockets and foam bubbled out of the corners of its beak. Finally, Childlike released it and allowed it to fall onto its side.

"Techniques marked increase of information extraction of up to three percent is confirmed." He said into his wrist computer.

"PMD Childlike." Captain Guinness' voice came on the com.

"Yes, Captain?" Childlike replied.

"Orbital superiority has been achieved, and the planetary defense forces, as well as several dozen cities, have been devastated." Captain Guinness informed him. "The objectives for the Terror Mission have been achieved sir; we are recalling all forces and returning back to base."

"It's just as well Captain, I have gotten everything I needed."

"Are you coming up yourself sir, or should I send a transport down to you?" Guinness asked.

"I don't really feel like walking Captain, could you send a transport down?"

"Of course sir, it will be five minutes at the most."

With that, Childlike walked over to a nearby fountain and sat down to wait. He considered today to be a good day. He confirmed that the new technique he developed for mind magic was actually effective. Of course, he needed to conduct some more tests to make sure the results were caused by the mental makeup of the aliens he tested it on, but he felt confident about it. It was times like this that he honestly enjoyed being a Warmage, and didn't mind the fact he had to get out in the field and dirty his hands sometimes because of his position.

For a little over six hundred years he had served as a Warmage, but the real reason he joined was because of his skill in mind magic. In the civilian sectors, mind magic was very heavily restricted and he, John Range, could not stand the constraints his genius languished under, so he bit the bullet and joined the Academy. He got his combat magic up to snuff and upon graduation, he dove into the secrets of mind magic in the military sectors. He hadn't regretted it since, although there were times when he had to interrogate individuals brought in, but those were quick and bloodless affairs. All one had to do was distract them, and begin shifting through their thoughts and memories, although he could honestly say he was glad they allowed him to practice mind torture techniques upon a few 'certain' people he had seen the mind of.

All and all he was living a dream life, a job he loved that used skills that he loved using, and it only got unpleasant sometimes. Imagine his surprise when he suddenly exploded into a burst of yellow magic one day. He had survived the strange event without resurrection because apparently he had become some sort of magical apparition that could only be felt by his panicked fellows. Two days later, he had finally remembered the chemical makeup for a human body, and recreated his own in his room so he could quickly dress when he possessed it. After that he was approached by several members of the PMD corps about what had happened. Apparently all those times he went to the training chambers to physically and magically distract himself, while he pondered conundrums he encountered during research had the side effect of making him powerful. So powerful in fact, his own Atlantean body could no longer sustain him and simply blew up. This event happening was apparently the only requirement for membership of the PMD corps. He had heard of, and on a few occasions, met a few members of the corps. They shared stories of their times as members, and he couldn't help but be awed by the tales they told. Going to other universes, traveling to the far edge of the galaxy, discovering new odd branches of magic, battling gods, and collecting artifacts that were so dangerous they had to be handled by a PMD. So when they offered him membership, he accepted. Of course he was perfectly aware that he would be getting deployed a lot by being a PMD, but the chance to expand his understanding of mind magic was too enticing to ignore.

The transport that was sent for him arrived in the plaza, and Childlike got onboard. Yes, he would prefer it greatly if he didn't have to join in all this fighting, as he cared little for it and the reasons behind it. But in the end, as long he got to practice his craft, then they could ask him to do what they wanted and he would do it efficiently and quickly, if only to get back to his research.


	8. Chapter 6 : Ezekiel

Erika was more than angry, she was utterly infuriated. Not only was there a noble in her home, desecrating it with her mere presence, but she was a god as well! A member of a race of divine beings that very nearly destroyed all of Atlantis in eons past was in her house. She was not going to stand for this!

"We should kill her!" Erika growled out, causing the ponies who were celebrating being free to freeze upon hearing this. "No good ever came of divine beings! Let's kill her now before she tries anything."

Erika's armor began the process of covering her and enlarging when…

"Erika, calm yourself." Ezekiel placed a restraining hand upon the top of his daughters head. "I don't believe this noble in particular will attempt to fight us."

"She's a noble and a god!" Erika protested. "We can't let any of them get away with the tyranny and evils they commit daily!"

"I of all people am very much aware of that." Ezekiel replied calmly. "However, think of this godly noble as the exception and not the rule. Now I do believe your mother wants to see you, she misses her precious little unicorn daughter very much."

"But… but…" Erika tried.

"Go on." Ezekiel urged. "I'll see you at dinner."

"I… yes father." Erika compiled while taking a deep calming breath. "I will go see mother now. See you at dinner."

Giving Celestia one final death glare, that very much would have rendered the Sun Goddess a gibbering wreck had Fluttershy given it, Erika walked away into a side passage.

Celestia was staring wide eyed, once again shocked at just how hostile Erika was toward her of all ponies. The memories of the little purple unicorn that would become starry eyed at the thought of a good book contrasted sharply with this violent one. Celestia gathered her thoughts and turned towards Ezekiel. So far he had proven far more tolerant of the fact that she was nobility and a god, as that was apparently a bad thing to be around here. This was odd, as one would think the child would inherit habits both good and bad from the parent. Celestia decided to take advantage of Ezekiel being polite and accommodating, and ask him a question.

"Excuse me, Lord Ezekiel?" Celestia started.

"No, stop that immediately." Ezekiel interrupted. "I am no noble. My mother was a waitress and my father was the owner of the local grocery store, my blood is as common as dirt."

"Oh… I am sorry." Celestia blinked at the proud declaration. "How may I address you then?"

"Simply call me by my first name." Ezekiel clarified. "But if you must be formal for whatever reason, then Emperor Ezekiel or sir will work just fine. Now I believe you were going to ask me something?"

"I simply wished to ask why your daughter hates nobility with such… vitriol." Celestia asked.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash agreed as she swopped down from above. "I mean what kind of pony goes around giving death threats to ponies they don't know!"

"Dashie!" Applejack scolded the rainbow-maned pegasus . "Excuse her sir. She didn't mean nothing 'bout what she said. She doesn't know any better."

"While rude, Rainbow does have a point about your daughter good sir." Rarity stated. "She seems rather… hateful around things and ponies she does not like."

"That's putting it lightly!" Pinkie exclaimed while hopping in place. "The Princess was all 'We come in peace.' And Erika was all 'Shut up noble! I will destroy you!'"

"Ummm… I would like to know as well." Fluttershy said quietly, as Pinkie began to flex her forelegs and puff up her cheeks in a ridiculous imitation of Erika being angry. "If you don't mind that is."

"Hmmm…" Ezekiel hummed in thought for a few moments. "I'll admit it. I did have a hand with Erika's hatred of nobility, but her reactions then were not nearly as extreme as they are now. The nobles she encountered early on in her military career only have themselves to blame for the brutality she is now so willing and eager to commit on them. But her sentiments are not all that different from anyone else in the Empire."

"Why is that?" Celestia asked. She knew nobility could be stuck up, but she could hardly imagine that being the sole reason for an entire race's hate.

"It goes back to ancient Atlantis." Ezekiel explained. "The ruling government was a Republic, but the senators who got elected were only chosen from certain families. It wasn't long before these families forgot or ignored the main reasons why only they were picked to lead, and simply assumed they were naturally better. They became corrupt, greedy and selfish." Some heat seemed to spill into Ezekiel's words as he spoke.

"Eventually, to the surprise of no one except the rulers, a rebellion rose up in response to their cruelty and casual disregard of the families they destroyed." Ezekiel frowned in thought as he spoke. "The rebellion went on for many years, but was eventually successful. Upon gaining their hard won victory, the rebels killed all the nobles, down to the last man, woman, and child." He finished gravely.

"The event left deep scars in Atlantean mentality, and the people never forgot the cruelty the nobility was capable of committing upon those they considered little better then animals."

The ponies were visibly disturbed at the reason why humans hated nobles. They could imagine them being jerks, with prince Blueblood being a ready example. But to think of them killing ponies because they could get away with it sickened them.

"And why do your people hate gods?" Celestia asked, though she felt she was going to regret it.

"Long after the Republic of Atlantis was ended, the gods felt threated by Atlantis' rising power." Ezekiel said solemnly. "You see, our technology and magical knowledge continued to grow rapidly as time passed. Eventually some of us began to not need a body anymore, the magic in our bodies simply grew to the point where they burst from it. This was what the gods considered crossing the line, and we grew from interesting pawns to outright threats in their eyes."

"So in one night, the gods attacked the whole of the Atlantean Empire." Ezekiel clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace. "Imagine it if you can, one moment your entire race and civilization is practically ruling the world, and your people are enjoying a golden age that doesn't seem likely to end. The next, fire rains from the sky and calm seas suddenly become alive and drown the lands under thirty feet of water for miles inland, the very beings you worshipped for generations to guide you in life and govern you in death are smiting your friends and family for no obvious reason. This is what Atlantis suffered, our capital city and home continent of Atlantis was completely and utterly destroyed, and all of our colonies wiped from existence."

"Despite their power, they were not totally successful in their mission obviously." Ezekiel grinned sardonically. "They may have succeeded in their mission of destroying Atlantis, but they paid for it with their immortal lives. Although, out of the millions of Atlanteans that lived at the time, not even a handful were left to rebuild our shattered civilization."

Celestia was right, she did regret asking.

The five mares looked utterly horrified at the story. They could not help but imagine Celestia and her sister Luna gleefully killing masses of ponies when they thought of other gods committing those acts. It disturbed each of them deeply to think that anyone was capable of such evil, even more so for a divine being that was like Celestia to commit such horrors.

"That's horrifying, but in light of this I can't help but ask…" Celestia said in compassion. "Why do you not share your people's understandable hatred?"

"It was because of a girl really…" Ezekiel said with a sudden faraway look in his eye. "I know those looks; no she was not [b]the[/b] girl. Her name was Henrietta, and she was a simple girl with simple dreams who was born into royalty."

"Understand that there was a time where I too shared Erika's and much of my people's hate of nobility." Ezekiel said to the ponies' surprise. "I met her in another of my accidental travels and began to play mind games with her, manipulating those around her into waging war with each other. How I tormented her, how I tricked entire noble houses, which often had a few of her friends, into wars with foreign noble houses. Yet no matter what I did, she never fell to the noble greed and loathing for those lower than her that I was sure she had. She worked herself nearly to death trying to assuage wounded noble prides to preserve the peace. Instead of hoarding wealth, she sold everything of value in her palace except the crown she wore. When her efforts eventually could no longer keep the peace, she rode at the head of the army instead of watching from afar. At the end when she lay dying on a battlefield as the entire world became engulfed in the chaos my machinations caused, I could no longer deny the fact before me."

"Here was a noble, a 'NOBLE', yet I could no longer see someone that would rape, pillage and kill." Ezekiel said with subdued awe. "I saw someone that was truly noble in spirit and deserved to lead, was [b]destined[/b] to lead. She showed so much benevolence and so much mercy when she could. She had made radical changes in doctrine that angered her fellow nobles, but made the commoners love her. And in the end, all she wanted was a small cottage to settle down in with her now dead lover; a queen of an entire nation and that's all she ever wanted." Celestia saw something shift in the depths of Ezekiel's eyes, empathy, understanding, a longing? It was only there a moment, but she saw something. "I realized that if I had not been there, then this iron-willed, but merciful and kind young woman would have led her nation into the future, a future of innovation and tolerance. I appeared at her side and she smiled weakly at me. She said it looked like I had proven myself right, that nobility could never be beyond petty wants and selfish desires."

"When I first meet her I was amused by her naivety and the lengths she went to hide her 'vile' nature that I assumed she had." Ezekiel explained. "I proposed that nobles were lower than filth encrusted on the bottom of a beggar's boot. That their selfishness, and foolish belief that they were naturally better than the 'dirty' commoners made them mentally weak and open to manipulation. She said that I may have been right about a good many nobles, but there would be those who truly aspired to nobility. I scoffed and told her I would prove her wrong."

"Yet, as she lay dying at my feet I could not but help but remember a few nobles who rallied around her and died loyal to her cause." Ezekiel looked down at his as if reliving the scene he recounted. "I told her that she was simply blinded by all the horrible things that happened. I told her that she was right and not all nobles were cruel and heartless, and she had proven me wrong with her own actions. I then asked her what she wanted. She replied… peace."

"So I fulfilled her dying wish and more." Ezekiel declared with sudden energy. "I called a fleet carrying an entire legion of golems to and took the world. I put out the fires of war that I had caused and ended the death and destruction running rampant in the countryside. And to the surprise of my commanders and myself, I spared many nobles from execution. I took Henrietta's body and located the body of her dead lover and flew them to the closest military station. I had them rebuilt and revived. I told her not to worry about her people, but worry about the dream she once given up on, the dream to settle down in a simple home and start a family."

"It was that girl that taught me to give nobles the benefit of the doubt." Ezekiel finished, leaning closely into Celestia's face. "So do not disappoint me in the chance I am giving you, little godly noble. Mark my words, you will not live long enough to regret it if you do." He said in a deadly whisper.

Celestia's wide eyes and the silence of the five mares around them was the only answer Ezekiel's received. Seeming to accept this, Ezekiel broke the silence.

"Now, I want all of you to follow me!" Ezekiel said, suddenly all smiles and cheerfulness. "Come along now! I want all of you to meet some people!"

Not having a choice, and more than a little disturbed by Ezekiel's sudden change in mood, they followed him into a maze of halls. They had obviously left the main hallway, as the halls they traveled through only had a ceiling thirty feet above them. They passed hundreds of other halls, rooms, and doors before coming to a set of double doors not unlike the entrance they had used when they first arrived. Ezekiel stepped before them and effortlessly pushed the monstrous doors open with a rush of air. The ponies stared as a large garden full of Atlanteans was revealed to them.

"Everyone here is a member of my family." Ezekiel said to the now nervous ponies.

The noise in the garden immediately died down when Ezekiel spoke, and the ponies began to shift nervously, as if preparing to run and hide, as hundreds of Gefallens stared at them.

"Come along now!" Ezekiel said, to the ponies' dismay, as he walked towards the mass of people. "This way!"

"This sucks." Rainbow Dash muttered as they followed Ezekiel into the crowd, the others could not help but agree.

As they walked deeper into the crowd of Gefallens, Celestia took stock of her surroundings. All around them, the Gefallens stared and whispered to each other in their language. It was quite obvious that they all knew who they were, or at least who Celestia was. There was a good number of hateful looks, but Celestia was surprised by how few there were, especially after her brief history lesson with Ezekiel. One thing about these humans she noticed was the massive variety in hair and eye colors. Blues, greens, reds, and everything in between; if the color existed, then there was probably someone here that had their hair or eyes in the same shade.

They stopped in what was felt like the very center of the mass of Gefallens. Ezekiel turned to them, and was about to say something when one of his family called out to him in his language. Ezekiel shouted something in return before turning back to the ponies.

"Excuse me a few moments." And just like that, the ponies were left in a very large crowd of strangers that quite possibly wanted to hurt them.

Not moments after thinking that, several Gefallens stepped forward and formed a small, tight circle around them, and began speaking to each other in their language. Being surrounded, and having no idea what was being said, the ponies all began to back towards each other, taking small, shaky steps.

"By the ruins of heaven and hell, a noble here?"

"You know, this is the very first time I've ever seen a noble."

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm an Apothecary you see…"

"So you're usually behind the front lines tending to the wounded and exhausted right?"

"Precisely that, cousin."

"So this is what the other members of Erika's race looks like, they are almost too cute if you ask me."

"You know I was beginning to think she was some sort of Chimera that someone abandoned in our gardens."

"Hmmm… doesn't explain how she got there without any of us knowing though."

"True… perhaps they can answer that?"

"All of you, back away!"

The ponies started, as a stern voice shouted and all the Gefallens that surrounded them quickly backed away from them. A human male stepped forward and stood in front of them. He was very tall, and easily looked down on Celestia from his height, he wore dark red robes that covered him completely, but left his head uncovered. He had a head full of hair and a trimmed beard that covered the lower half of his face; both his hair and his eyes were a vibrant shade of red. Over one shoulder, he held an absolutely massive hammer that appeared to be made out of polished obsidian.

"My name is Maxwell, Maxwell Gefallen." He introduced himself in English. "You six are in our home, be polite and introduce yourselves."

"Hi, my name's Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie bounded forward and offered Maxwell her hoof, which after a moment he shook.

"Hello good sir, my name is Rarity." Rarity greeted courteously.

"Name's Applejack." Applejack said wearily as she looked at all the people around her.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria!" Maxwell blinked at the boastful rainbow-maned pegasus.

"I-I-I'm Fluttershy." Fluttershy said, in a barely audible whisper, as she shook with frayed nerves.

"I am Princess Celestia of Equestria." Celestia as she took in the sight of the hanging gardens that covered the massive walls around her. "Humans have changed since I have last seen them."

Maxwell raised an eyebrow curiously at that last comment. "Oh, and what were humans doing when you last saw them?"

"They were busy killing each other." Celestia replied bluntly. "They waged war in boxy machines, and assaulted entire coastlines with plain gray fortresses all along them. They sent hundreds of thousands of their own into killing fields, with the intension of exhausting the enemy's weapons, and rained death from large flocks of flying machines onto cities full of innocents. It was… horrific to watch."

"You truly must be a long lived creature." Maxwell replied, unbothered by what she recalled. "Or you really are god, to have watched humanity over a thousand years ago."

'A thousand years?' Celestia thought to herself in puzzlement. 'How could a thousand years have passed since I last scryed humans? I last saw them only three years ago. Everything involving time between this world and ours is all mixed up.'

As Celestia pondered this, Ezekiel returned from his talk with a relative.

"I'm back, now you four don't be shy, socialize!" Ezekiel said to the five nervous mares… well four nervous mares, Pinkie was doing her thing and meeting as many people as she could. "Like what she is doing. Now I hope you don't mind if I borrow your princess for a while."

Ezekiel placed a hand on Celestia's shoulder.

"I need to ask you something I have always wondered about, could you follow me?" Ezekiel asked. "Don't worry about your loyal little subjects, they'll be fine I promise."

With that, the five mares were left alone and an awkward silence settled across the gardens, interrupted only by Pinkie's excited babbling, until the sound of many little feet approached the ponies. Out of the crowd came a small hoard of children that stopped in front of the ponies. They whispered to each other, pointing excitedly at the ponies until Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of them with starry eyes.

"Ohhh they are sooo cute!" She gushed. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Do all of you like parties?"

The Atlantean children's' answer was wide smiles and giggles.

**-with Ezekiel & Celestia-**

"…Ezekiel I wish to ask you something." Celestia asked the cloaked man as they walked, Ezekiel turned his head towards her. "I want to know how old you are exactly."

"And why would you wish to know that Celestia?" Ezekiel replied casually.

"When we were in the garden, I noticed a certain trait a vast majority of your family share." Celestia stated. "Most of them bear features that mark them as closely related to you. There were hundreds of them, and as far as I know, most humans are lucky if they live to be a hundred. You would have to be far older than that to have so many progeny."

"Very astute observation skills my dear Celestia." Ezekiel complimented. "Hmmm… let's see, how old am I? I would say about… two thousand one hundred and forty five years since the day I was born. Well actually a bit older than that, but I'm only counting the years I was conscious for."

'Over two thousand?' Celestia thought to herself in shock. 'He… he's older then I am. But how is that possible? Is he not a member of a mortal race? I can tell he is being truthful, but how can a mere mortal live to be so old without showing his age?'

As Celestia tried to figure this out, they arrived in an entirely different section of the compound. In this section, the walls were covered in paintings, obviously some sort of art gallery.

Having apparently arrived at their intended location, Ezekiel turned to Celestia and opened his mouth to say something. But a group of Elven servants some distance behind her caught his attention. They all wore long sleeved white shirts that buttoned to the far left, with black dress pants on their legs, save for one they all surrounded; he wore a long white apron over his uniform.

"Excuse me a moment." Ezekiel said to Celestia. "I just remembered I have to make some alterations to the dinner plan." He then walked to the servants.

Celestia entertained herself while Ezekiel was gone by looking at the portraits. They were all photo realistic oil paintings, and she soon realized they were all paintings of Ezekiel's family. Each one seemed to show one in a moment of triumph, but what kind specifically, Celestia could not tell; there was a short description on the frame, but it was in Atlantean. Many were standing freshly bloodied from a battle that was still going on in the background, a few others were different. One she saw was a young man with short green hair standing proudly in front of a hologram that depicted some equation, another was a young woman with bright orange hair tied into short pigtails standing in front of some monstrous machine she could not recognize. However there was one that caught her attention.

It was a picture of Erika and, for a lack of a better word, she looked like she had gone through hell. She stood over a fallen foe with her hoof raised to crush its head. Her armor, once silvery and pristine, now had massive rents and tears in it, revealing the horrible wounds beneath. Part of her helmet had been torn off and showed her snarling visage.

Beneath Erika, her foe seemed to be in a much worse state. He was human surprisingly, and wore a, now bloody and torn, gilded long coat fit for Victorian royalty. He was missing his lower legs, and his right arm was an almost unrecognizable mass of torn flesh. Yet oddly, he was giving Erika a cheerful, bloody smile and a friendly wave goodbye. Celestia looked at the description for some sort of hint for the story behind the violent picture.

Αστρικό Κύριος Erika Gefallen Νικημένος από

Obviously no luck there…

"Ah yes, I remember this." Ezekiel said from right beside Celestia, making her jump in surprise. "I was so worried when I heard about that little engagement. Erika always progressed with such speed and ease in magic, but even I wasn't sure she was ready for such an enemy. Young as she was she just barely managed it, to the surprise and relief of all of us." Ezekiel said with a smile.

They stood there silently for a few moments, Alicorn sun goddess and Atlantean Emperor, examining a picture of one who meant so much to the both of them.

"I wish to ask you something." Ezekiel said suddenly. "The reason why I brought you here."

"What do you wish to know?" He had answered one of her questions after all.

"It's a question about you, your species to be exact." Ezekiel replied. "You see, powerful Atlanteans can change their forms at will once they become strong enough. I have often changed into the same species as Erika, to make her feel more comfortable when she was very young, but my transformations were… odd. I would gravitate towards one form naturally, and I would have to focus on being turned into a unicorn like her. This is what made us aware of the fact that Erika's species had sub-species in it as a matter of fact. I wish to know what the meaning behind this form is."

Celestia turned her gaze from the painting to Ezekiel. But instead of finding an ashen skinned human, she found an extremely unlikely sight; sitting beside her was an Alicorn. The Alicorn had a coat that was pitch black and a dark gray mane and tail. Its eyes were neon pink and the cutie mark on its flank was a neon pink lambda.

Celestia was rendered speechless by the Atlantean turned Alicorn before her.


	9. Elsewhere Episode II : Lesson One

A crowd of thirteen year-olds poured into the classroom on a Monday morning. They all wore a plain black uniform with a dark pink lambda on the upper left breast on the shirt. These teenagers were the newest class at the Warmages Academy.

"All right, all of you find a seat and we'll start." Their teacher, a blonde headed man wearing black jeans and a white tee-shirt, yelled across the room.

Mingling as they went, the students all walked over to grab a desk.

"I am Jonas Shepard." He introduced himself once they were all seated. "I'll be your instructor for your time here."

"All of you here today, are those that were deemed of the right mindset to be a Warmage by the psych-exams you took." He stated. "Now that you are here, you will have to finish twenty years of training before you can even see a battlefield up close."

Perhaps surprisingly, this announcement was not, in fact, met with a wave of dissatisfied groans and complaints, or any other indications of disappointment. The teenagers were silent and seemed to take this little fact in stride, they were chosen for a reason after all.

"If you put your all into it and work hard, then you can cut that time in half." The teacher continued. "This isn't as easy as it sounds, and I have to tell you that not everyone is a prodigy. You should work hard, but at your own pace, at first anyways… yes Chelsea?"

"Yeah, about that estimated time to graduation." Chelsea said, a little surprised he knew her name. "I heard someone managed to do it in five years."

"You heard correctly." Jonas walked over to the blank wall at the front of the class and waved his hand. "The graduate in question was Erika Gefallen or Captain Sparkly, as is her rank and call sign."

A large hologram covered the entire front wall of the classroom. The hologram was presenting a picture of a graduating class of Cadets. There were thirty people being inducted into the Warmages, but one caught the class' eye. Standing in front of the group, with her head held high with pride was Erika Gefallen, daughter of the Emperor and magical prodigy.

"Erika Gefallen entered the academy at the same age you all did." Jonas said. "All Gefallens are expected to graduate early, thanks to pre-schooling provided by their family members. Erika beat all expectations and excelled in all fields of magic, no matter how advanced. In five short years she was deemed skilled and knowledgeable enough for the Warmages."

"Now don't let that discourage you, she is a Gefallen after all." Jonas reminded, and the class nodded respectfully. "Okay back on track, here is your first lesson."

"Atlantean magic is unnatural." Jonas stated. "Ask any stick-slinger, Song singer, or Magical Savages in general. They will all tell about how much of an abomination you feel like. The truth of the matter is that Atlantean Magic is almost as artificial as the tools we make."

"In ancient Atlantis, instead of accepting the answer to mystical questions as simply 'Magic' the ancient Atlanteans took after their Greek cousins." Jonas explained. "They kept asking questions and trying to find a deeper answer. Eventually, this lead to Atlanteans seeing magic as a tool to be used and refined, unlike magic users in other places of the world. Adding to their development was the fact that more and more civilizations saw magic as something unholy, to be hunted down and destroyed. This in turn made hundreds of ostracized magic users seek a place to call their own, and before long Atlantis was seen as the 'Holy Land' for magic users everywhere. Atlantis' already high magical population shot up into the hundreds of thousands in the span of a decade. Not long after that, the mundane populations of Atlantis either left or died out from inter breeding with magic users. Atlantis entered into a golden age, which was only ended by the destruction of Atlantis itself."

"Now I'm not going to get into that, elementary would have already taught you this." Jonas reassured the class. "What we are getting into, is how the people of Ancient Atlantis began to change magic itself. It began simply enough, a few rituals here and there to increase one's potency in magic. But they started to experiment, what would happen to an unborn child should its mother undergo this ritual? It turns out that the child's potential would be far greater than its mother. Time passed, and innovation struck Atlantis, while the rest of the world still considered thirty foot stone walls to be an impenetrable defense, Atlantis was already beginning to experiment with steam powered machinery. It was common practice at this point for unborn children to undergo rituals to increase their potency throughout their life, but the Republic of Atlantis wanted to go further. The people of Atlantis were seen as the most magically powerful race that could exist, but they still used a magic that could be quite unpredictable at times. Nothing came of the Republic's efforts other than the gradual increase in Atlantean magical potency, until ancient society underwent a digital revolution. Many things came of this revolution, computers obviously, but the most important aspect of this was the ability for researchers to study genetics. Geneticists studied and experimented with the Atlantean genome until they found what gave some people magic and what made others mundane. This one discovery eventually made all Atlanteans what they are today."

"Using both genetic engineering and magic to induce selective mutation, the genes that gave Atlanteans magic were slowly changed." Jonas lectured. "The Atlantean that was given these genes via a retro-virus seemed to be no different at first, but over a period of several years it was discovered that this Atlantean's magic would increase in strength as he used and strained it. Before this, an Atlantean's natural potential in magic could only be increased by ritual, and even then the amount they improved was unpredictable. Now though, our magic was effectively changed into a muscle, a muscle that had no limit to how toned it could get and could keep that tone even if it went without use."

"At the same time though, there are some drawbacks to having magic behave like this." Jonas continued. "For example, a marathon bicyclist could always get through a bike race without being exhausted, but put him in a foot race and he would be lucky to finish at all. When our magic is used in certain ways, it becomes accustomed to being used in that way. Have an Assault Mage and a Battle Mage use long range spells, and the Assault Mage will use up a negligible amount of his magic, however, the Battle Mage will end up using far more magic to achieve the same effect even if they are equals in power."

"Because of this, you will eventually have to choose a magic to specialize in as, becoming equally skilled will take too long to accomplish… yes Chelsea?"

"Not the best example, but… what about Emperor Ezekiel?" Chelsea asked. "I think I read somewhere he is considered a master in Mind, Soul, Siege, and Battle magic, as well as possessing a mastery in alchemy."

"Hmmm… no, Emperor Ezekiel is a good example of the advantage being old can bring." Jonas clarified. "He is the oldest mage in Atlantis, and the first PMD to ever come into existence. His mastery in so many fields comes from simply having the time to practice and expand his skill."

"Now we are almost out of time before we have to get some practical training done." Jonas said looking at the clock. "Before we go though, I am obliged to show you this."

The holograph began to project many different pictures and scenes. Children playing in a field, a city during a holiday celebration, a couple enjoying the view of a sunset from a garden atop a floating hab-complex, and a wedding full of happy people.

"This is what you will be protecting." Jonas stated. "This is what you will be protecting it against."

Immediately the mood of the pictures changed. A picture of a city under attack from the street level, with people screaming in terror, demons spilling forth from a hell mouth in the sky and brutalizing all they encountered, Angels this time, but pinning people against walls and drawing out their organs while they screamed in agony. The pictures continued to grow more and more grisly as they went on, and depicted war at its most horrifying. Most of the students began to retch at the sight of the more gruesome pictures, and the few that didn't looked ready to join.

"Always remember this when you graduate." Jonas said calmly. "We are her murderers, we are her chained demons and fallen angels, and we sacrificed the very thing we swore to protect… innocence. We are her sword and shield, and when the need is dire we gladly serve as her armor. We are Warmages of Atlantis, and we would drown the enemies of Atlantis in our own blood to end them."

As Jonas finished, the bell rang. With that, the class of cadets walked out of the room with solemn airs, ready to face two long decades of training.


	10. Chapter 7 : Dinner

"…Celestia, is there something wrong?" Alicorn Ezekiel asked the Sun Princess. "You seem disturbed all of a sudden."

Celestia simply stood, with her eyes wide, and her mouth gaping at the changed Ezekiel. Finally she broke out of her shock and started circling around Ezekiel. She started examining every part of him, as if she still couldn't believe her eyes, and started muttering under her breath.

"… Uhhh, Celestia?" Ezekiel questioned.

"How?" She demanded, appearing in his face. "How could you be an Alicorn? Alicorns are gods and you are only mortal, how can you possibly be one? Yet here you are, feeling as genuine an Alicorn as my sister. I do not understand this at all."

"Alicorns are gods?" Ezekiel asked with fascination as his body turned to a pink mist and reformed as his cloaked human self. "Are you absolutely sure about that?"

"Yes of course!" Celestia replied.

'Strange, so very strange.' Ezekiel thought to himself. 'Gods give off an aura of divine energy, but I felt myself exude no such thing. Maybe the change does not include certain necessary traits? She said I felt genuine though, as genuine as her sister. Although she, herself does not give off ANY divine energy as well.

Hmmm… What could that mean?' Ezekiel asked himself, as he stared at the confused Alicorn before him. 'There is not enough data to make any definite assumptions. Still this is so very… curious.'

"Celestia, I feel I must ask what your intentions are concerning my daughter." Ezekiel said, abruptly changing topics. "I already know them, but I feel I must be fair and know your side."

Celestia was thrown for a loop for a few moments at the sudden question. She felt she was at an impasse. She felt and knew she couldn't just leave Erika here, both because of what she meant to Celestia herself, and the fact she was the Element of Magic. And considering the age of Erika's father, she would remain the Element for a very long time. But at the same time, she could not just take her, as Erika would refuse and resist any such attempt, and her father obviously loved her. Not to mention what the implication behind Ezekiel's casual dismissal of her godly nature meant for his ability to handle her, if she should try to force the matter. Of course, that could have been a bluff, but she had a feeling she should not try to see is it was.

"…I and my subjects did come here to retrieve Erika or Twilight Sparkle as she was known to us." Celestia admitted after a few moments, not noticing the smirk Ezekiel gained upon hearing his daughter's former name. "But the situation has changed completely. The little unicorn I taught and helped to raise no longer knows me or her own friends, and even regards us with disdain and hatred." Celestia said as a deep sadness entered her eyes.

"Yes, I could hardly imagine that Erika would up and go with people that are by all accounts, strangers to her." Ezekiel agreed with her. "And she does have many responsibilities here, as well as a rather large extended family she would miss."

"I know that now, but I cannot bring myself to just leave her here." Celestia said hopelessly.

"As I said, all of you are nothing more than strangers to her, as she has no memories before the day she was brought here." Ezekiel stated. "I can understand how you feel about her. If I was in your position, I too would be caught between two choices with undesirable consequences."

'It wouldn't stop me from taking my daughter back though.' Ezekiel thought to himself.

"… I did uncover a spell that would hopefully restore her hidden memories but…" Celestia looked Ezekiel in the eyes. "I do not think that you would allow me to do such a thing."

Ezekiel's eyes became hard as diamonds as he proceeded to stare down the Alicorn of the Sun. Celestia did not back down in the slightest however, and matched his steely stare with her own. They stayed like that for several moments that seemed to drag on eternally before Ezekiel tilted his head to one side.

"Celestia… what lengths are you willing to go to prove your good intentions?"

**-with Erika in her mother's room-**

"I just don't understand how father could be so willing to allow her to walk about in our home like this!" Erika complained to her mother. "She's a noble and a god! The two things that have caused so much suffering for our people, in the past as well as in the present."

Su Li, an Asian woman with long hair, wearing a long sleeved, black and dark blue dress with a black velvet shawl and black velvet gloves, listened to her daughter from her couch.

"I can understand just ignoring some noble kingdoms." Erika paced as she ranted. "The simple logistics behind assaulting every solar empire we do not like would be completely unsustainable, making tolerating their existence preferable. But going so far as letting a noble god into our home is… is… I don't even know the word for it."

"Erika…" Su Li began while taking a drink of coffee. "I know you have an absolute loathing for nobility, but you should trust your father in this. He would not endanger our family in any way, even if the danger wasn't at all threating."

Putting her cup of coffee down, Su Li got up from her seat and pulled Erika into a hug. "Besides, you should relax and not worry yourself with such things. You're home now after two years, I think you should stop thinking about work and enjoy being here."

Erika sighed as she was held tight. "… You're right mother; father knows what he is doing. He wouldn't just let a noble and her entourage into our home without some plan in store." Erika pulled out of her mother's hug and looked up at her. "You must be really happy, years of asking him to not be so harsh and he's finally doing so."

Su Li smiled at Erika. "I am happy Ezekiel is willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, and isn't casting judgment the moment they meet. But I have always understood where he was coming from with his methods. Feudal regimes and doctrines are meant to be grown out of, not retained into the age of space exploitation."

Su Li's smile suddenly turned impish. "Now do you need help getting ready for dinner Erika? I know how long it takes you after all."

"Y-yes…" Erika blushed with embarrassment at her 'problem'. "I could use your help mother, if you don't mind. Otherwise it's going to take me at least half an hour and I'll be very late by then."

"Come here then." Su Li laughed. "Let's get you ready."

**-with Ezekiel and Celestia-**

Ezekiel and Celestia walked back to the gardens silently. Since exiting the galleries, they had not spoken a word to each other. Ezekiel was fine with this, as this gave him time to completely focus on his thoughts, and Celestia was busy trying to shake off the feeling of something crawling all over her. They reached a pair of large double doors and opened them. They were immediately surprised by the cacophony of sound that washed over them.

Ezekiel blinked and suddenly grabbed Celestia by her shoulders, holding her directly in front of him. Celestia, for her part, only had enough time to widen her eyes in surprise before a banana crème pie smacked into her face. The deafening noise from the gardens immediately died. Ezekiel tilted his head to look around Celestia and examine the scene before him.

And what a scene it was, the once pristine members of the vaunted Gefallen family were all covered in copious amounts of banana crème pie; the gardens were also practically dripping with the stuff. It seemed that in the fifteen minutes they had been gone, a massive food fight had been started.

Everyone was frozen in mid-throw or in mid-air, as was the case with a certain rainbow-maned pegasus and several family members, and stared towards Ezekiel and the Sun Alicorn he was holding as a makeshift shield.

Ezekiel calmly put Celestia down, who then proceeded to wipe pie off her face, and turned to the crowd. "Who threw that?" He asked.

Almost every Gefallen present pointed to a pink haired and yellow coated pegasus who still had her foreleg up in a throwing position. Upon receiving the attention of hundreds of people, Fluttershy broke out of her shock and gave a mortified squeak. "Oops…" She whimpered.

Ezekiel shook his head in amusement at the thought that someone who appeared to be so shy would even participate in something like this, yet here it was. "I do not know how this happened, but I do regret missing it… also I am not cleaning this up."

"I should hope not Ezekiel!" An irritated voice said. "As that is my job, not yours."

A stern looking elven woman in a maid uniform stepped alongside Ezekiel, and proceeded to give the entire crowd of hundreds of Gefallens, and five ponies, a fearsome glare.

"Some of the Empire's most brilliant and powerful mages are in this garden. People often ask me how I feel serving such a powerful and famous family." She stated with reserve. "I tell them I feel like I'm taking care of children all over again." With that, she snapped her fingers.

A slivery wave of magic washed over everyone in the gardens. When it faded, all signs of the food fight that had covered every surface had vanished. The Elven woman nodded and allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction.

"Ahh, Ismira!" Ezekiel said cheerfully. "How is my head of Sanitation today?"

"I am well, but I would be better if things would stay clean for more than a half second around here." She sighed and shook her head wearily.

"Thank you for cleaning me up, Miss Ismira." Celestia thanked the Elven servant with a smile. "I appreciate it very much."

Ismira glared down at the Alicorn princess and stepped close. "You better not be tracking dirt and dust all over the rugs with those hooves of yours." Ismira growled as she loomed over Celestia.

"What? O-of course not." Celestia reassured the surprisingly intimidating maid.

"Better hope your fat ass you're not." Ismira snapped.

"…Fat?" Celestia blinked owlishly, before turning her head to look over her body.

"Now, now. I'm sure Ismira is just being testy from another day's hard work." Ezekiel soothed.

"No I'm not."

"See?" Ezekiel stated.

"Whatever…" Ismira drawled. "It's not my job, but guess who gets to tell you lot that dinner is ready?"

"Aha, dinner is ready!" Ezekiel shouted to everyone. "Come along Celestia, I'm sure you haven't gained a pound." He said as he ushered Celestia away from an annoyed Ismira.

He was soon joined by five other mares, one of whom was being glared at by Ismira. Pinkie whistled innocently, and trotted nonchalantly, as she ignored the suspicious looks she was being given by the Elven maid. Ezekiel motioned for them to follow when a large white blur struck him in the neck.

"Grandpa Ezekiel!" The blur screamed in a girly voice.

Ezekiel was nearly sent sprawling to the ground from the force of the small girl, with pointed ears and long white hair, flying into him. He just managed to retain his balance and take a look at who was hanging off from his neck. He laughed and moved her around until she was sitting on his forearm.

"Jubilee, how is my little half-elven granddaughter today?" Ezekiel asked cheerfully, and then added mock seriously. "Have you been practicing your flying?"

"Yep, I've gotten loads faster!" Jubilee shouted excitedly. "I wanna be the best flyer in my first year of the academy!"

"It is always good to start early, but the academy is seven years away for you." Ezekiel smiled. "Make sure you spend enough time playing before you have to grow up okay?"

"Kay!" She responded with a smile.

Ezekiel was about to put her back down when he noticed a large crowd of children running towards him. He recognized all of them as his many generations of grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so on. He turned towards the ponies, who were smiling at the sight of him with his grandchild.

"It looks like I'm going to be busy for the next little while." He said with a shrug. "Just follow the crowd to the dining room and you'll be fine." He managed to say before he was almost bowled over by a horde of excited children.

**-dining room-**

Celestia and her five subjects followed the crowd of people until they reached the truly massive dining room.

They couldn't help themselves as they marveled at the sure scale of Atlantean engineering once more. The ceiling was extremely high up and covered a vast distance, as the room was large enough to hold several thousand, as it was doing right now, yet there was not a single arch or column to help spread structural stress. Hundreds of crystalline chandeliers glinted as they hung from the ceiling and lit up the room. Across the carpeted floor of the dining room were hundreds of tables to seat the vast numbers of the Gefallen family as they ate.

They started to wonder where they could sit when a servant approached them.

"Ezekiel has personally reserved some seats at his table for your party Princess Celestia." The Elven butler intoned. "Please follow me."

The servant led the six to one of the tables. It was larger than the others, and was positioned somewhat in the center of the room. As they began taking seats a young woman arrived next to them.

She wore the standard issue dress uniform for Warmage woman, a plain gray skirt and jacket. She had pale skin and long, dark blue, straight hair with a pink streak in it that ended just below her shoulders. She had a bright smile on her face that was quickly replaced by a frown when she noticed who was sitting at the table. Her frown quickly became angry when she also noticed that the only seat that wasn't going to be taken in the next few moments was right next to them. Taking several calming breaths, she took the seat and proceeded to ignore the ponies next to her in favor of waiting for the meal to arrive.

The ponies looked all around them as they waited for the food to arrive and took in the sights of the others at the table; they were a strange and diverse lot. Further down the table was what appeared to be a crow that was talking to an Elf that was next to it, the Elf suddenly laughed as if understanding the caws the crow made as a joke. Across from them, was what they thought some odd breed of timber wolf that had somehow been shaped into a human woman with green moss hair. Seated some distance from the timber woman was a large gorilla reading a book, and wearing a lavish scarlet suit with an incredibly small pair of spectacles upon his nose. A large fox padded up to a seat, and in a flash of movement, there was suddenly a man sitting there, with bright orange hair, yellow slitted eyes, and a mouth full of canines. Finally Ezekiel himself arrived with a woman wearing a long black and blue dress; they both took the two seats at the far end of the table.

Finally several hundred servants entered the dining room, carrying in tray upon tray of covered foods. They placed the trays upon all the hundreds of tables and uncovered them. Enough meat to have slaughtered an entire herd for it, entire forests worth of vegetables, and gallons upon gallons of drink and mashed potatoes, and so much more met the sight of everyone. Immediately, people reached over and began filling their plates, with servants being kind enough to have placed several different kinds of salad near the ponies. However, this went unnoticed, as Celestia and the five Elements of Harmony sat frozen in their seats.

It was meat. The sight of so much meat had rendered the small group of herbivores frozen in shock, displaying no little amount of horror on their faces. However, Celestia and Flutttershy were quick to break out of their trance, and reach out to fill their plates. Fluttershy was used to the sight of meat being eaten and often took care of several carnivores, so she had to catch fish for them to eat. Celestia often entertained ambassadors from kingdoms of beings made up of carnivores or omnivores, so the sight before her only surprised her.

Rainbow Dash wasn't far behind the two, and soon got over the sight to begin filling her own plate. She had gone to flight school with a griffon once, and had seen her eat meat many times. Applejack and Rarity could not find it in themselves to ignore what was a stomach churning sight in front of them however. Applejack had grown up on the farm and had worked beside cows, pigs, and chickens, and before her was potentially the meat from those very species. Rarity simply found the thought of eating another being, pardon the pun, distasteful. Pinkie took one look at what was on the many trays and pointed a hoof towards her mouth while making a 'blech' expression.

"Excuse me is there something wrong?" A nearby man asked them, after noticing the expressions on the three ponies' faces.

The woman with the pink streak in her hair had by this time, eagerly filled her plate with pork chops and side dishes of creamed corn and mashed potatoes, but upon hearing this question took an aside glance at the ponies next to her. She saw the expressions upon the faces of Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie and simply rolled her eyes. She cut a piece of pork and ate it before speaking aloud.

"They are an herbivore species." She stated with a haughty tone. "They very likely live in coexistence with animals. They probably do not like the sight of all this meat in front of them. Too bad really, it is very good." She finished before taking another glance at the ponies, her eyes widened at what she saw.

Celestia's horn glowed as she manipulated the cutlery to eat the salad, but that is not what caught the woman's attention. It was the sight of Fluttershy eating; the little pegasus was serenely eating her caesar salad, sans the bacon bits, with her fork. That is to say, she was holding a fork with a hoof, something that did not at all have the needed appendages to manipulate such a thing. The woman gaped for several moments as Fluttershy ate, before speaking up.

"How… how are you doing that?" She asked Fluttershy.

"Do-doing what?" The shy pegasus replied.

"Doing that! Holding the fork with only your hoof!"

A Gefallen that was sitting nearby had taken notice of how the little pegasus was eating, and put on a monocle with a red glowing lens. "That isn't all." He said. "She is not channeling magic at all into that hoof."

The woman boggled at hearing that. "How can you do that? I have never been able to do that!"

"What do you mean miss?" Rarity glanced at the woman's hands. "You have hands, not hooves. I do not think you would…" And then, Rarity noticed certain things about this woman sitting next to her.

She had dark blue hair with a pink streak in it. Her eyes were a specific shade of violet and there was an air about her that was all too… familiar.

"…Erika?" Rarity hazarded a guess that seemed so farfetched to her.

"…Yes it is me." Erika admitted reluctantly.

"You are strong enough to change into other forms?" Celestia asked as the mares gasped at Erika's new form.

"You know about that?" Erika asked in surprise. "Who told you?"

"Ezekiel informed me about that ability powerful mages have." Celestia stated.

Erika was about to say more when…

"What's it like being human!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she suddenly appeared right in front of Erika. "I bet having hands can be useful huh?"

"Wha…"

"Is it hard to keep balance on only two legs?" Pinkie interrupted. "I bet it's hard!"

"It…"

"Oh, is there any difference between a mane and- umpf!" Pinkie was silenced as Erika forced her muzzle closed with her hand.

"Yes hands are quite useful." Erika said with a smirk.

"Why would ya want to even change your species in the first place?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, what's so bad about being a pony?" Rainbow agreed with Applejack.

Erika smirk grew sardonic as she motioned to her plate. "Well for one, I would not be able to eat this wonderful food if I was a unicorn."

The eyes of the ponies widened as they realized what was on Erika's plate, a small pile of pork chops. Applejack suddenly looked a little green and she raised a hoof to her mouth, gagging slightly. Fluttershy and Rainbow gaped at Erika, and Celestia frowned.

"You eat meat?" Pinkie shouted in shock as she managed to get her muzzle away.

"But of course." Erika gave a big smile that showed off her canines. "It's my favorite food after all."

"Epp." With that, Pinkie darted to her seat away from Erika. "I don't think I like new Twilight very much." She muttered.

"I find myself unfortunately agreeing with you Pinkie." Rarity said to her friend. "I find myself beginning to dislike the mare a lot."

"It's like talking to Nightmare Moon… without the whole eternal night stuff she kept ranting about." Rainbow muttered under her breath and got several nods from her friends.

Erika smiled to herself as she took gratification in disturbing the ponies with her taste in food. She returned attention to her meal, and began to dig in with much enthusiasm. Other than a servant coming once in a while to ask if they needed anything, their section of the table remained quiet for the rest of the meal. However out of the six ponies, only three of them, Celestia, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash to a certain extent, were able to eat anything in the presence of so much meat, as Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie could barely stomach the sight in front of them, let alone eat anything.

After what seemed like an eternity to half of the ponies, the meal had begun to reach its end. More and more people left their plates empty, rather than refill them, and leaned back in their chairs as food settled in their stomachs. The sound of conversation grew louder and louder as more people finished eating and socialized with those around them.

"Well I do believe that is another meal finished." Ezekiel's voice rang out from his seat at the head of the table.

Seemingly waiting for him to say just that, everyone started to get up from their seats and leave the dining room, a few who still had room in their stomachs for more food yet, stayed in their seats and continued to eat. Celestia and her ponies got up from their seats and began to wonder what they were going to do, when they heard Ezekiel call out to them.

"Celestia, could you and your ponies come with me please!" Ezekiel shouted. "Erika, I need you to follow me as well!"

The now human Erika and the six ponies quickly caught up with Ezekiel and followed him as he made his way across the massive dining room. Eventually, they came to a pair of beautifully carved, wooden double doors that were rather average compared to everything else the ponies had seen in this place. Ezekiel opened the doors and motioned them inside.

Inside was some sort of small library with couches. The floor was covered with a carpet with many flowery designs upon it. The far wall held a fireplace, with a small fire burning away, casting a warm light on everyone. Along the other walls were many bookshelves containing hundreds upon hundreds of books. In the center of the room were several large, comfy looking couches centered on a large coffee table with a chandelier hanging overhead.

Everyone followed Ezekiel until they stood next to the couches and tables. Ezekiel gave a meaningful look to Celestia before turning to his transformed daughter.

"Erika, I do believe it's time for you to be reacquainted with your old life."


	11. Chapter 8 : Twilight?

"Old life, what do you mean father?" Erika asked her father in slight confusion. She was sure her tests early in life revealed no signs of her retaining skills from an old life. "I am fairly sure I am not a reincarnation."

"Allow me to explain, Erika." Ezekiel said. "As it turns out, the reason your race was so hard to find was because they resided in another universe entirely. Back in your home universe you helped fight a malevolent eldritch entity; you won, but he sent you into the multiverse in retaliation. When you arrived here you were roughly two years old, but you were twenty back there. The difference in time between our universes means that it has only been forty five days for Celestia and her ponies, but forty five years for you."

"What? Where did you get this information?" Erika asked.

"Celestia provided it." Ezekiel answered.

Erika narrowed her eyes at the Alicorn in question. "Father, with all due respect, I trust you with my life, but how do you know she is telling the truth and not lying?"

"Because Erika, she allowed me to see her mind in its entirety." Ezekiel said as he raised his hand in a placating gesture. "I found no falsehood. She only wants you to have the memories of your old life back."

Celestia widened her eyes and gave Ezekiel a questioning glance. Why did he not mention she wanted Erika back as well?

"…Very well Father." Erika conceded reluctantly. "However, if this should fail horribly or go awry in some way, I wish to be the one to issue the noble her… punishment." Erika finished with a smirk towards Celestia.

"Very well Erika, now I want you and Celestia to come here." Ezekiel said. Erika walked over to stand in front of her father to his left, and Celestia stood beside her to his right. Ezekiel gave a nod to the Princess and she turned to Erika with her horn aglow with magic.

Erika glared down at Celestia with narrowed eyes as a silvery thread of magic snaked from the alicorn's horn. The thread of magic reached out across the distance to touch Erika's forehead and began its work. Ezekiel watched this intently, wanting to study the spell and see what it did exactly.

As the spell reached Erika's head, Ezekiel eyes began to glow a bright pink. Ezekiel was now in his daughter's mind along with the spell. As was the case with all people, Erika's mindscape was plane that reflected where she was most comfortable, floating high in the sky was the Gefallen family compound, but around Ezekiel was a battlefield. The battle here was eternally raging; golems fought until they crumpled only to reform, Warmages battled until they died from exhaustion, only to reappear fully healed and rested. Mundane objects littered the battlefield; Ezekiel knew that these seemingly useless objects were the representation of Erika's memories. He watched the spell carefully navigate the battlefield within Erika's mind. It snaked to each memory, giving each a thorough look before moving on to the next one, always able to dodge miss aimed spells and deadly melees. It stopped in the middle of a destructive battle between two Assault Mages and coiled in on itself before launching into the sky in a plume of dust, aimed for the compound. Ezekiel flew after it and followed it as it circled in the air over the compound. It dove for one of the gardens with Ezekiel close behind. It slowed as it began moving through bushes, flower beds, and trees. Ezekiel looked around and got an idea as to the thread's destination.

Sure enough, the magical entity arrived at a small clearing containing a small cardboard box in it. The thread circled around before nudging the box open. There was absolutely nothing in the box other than the memory of being in the dark and suddenly coming face to face with Ezekiel. The thread ignored this memory and pushed it out of the way, before nosing at the bottom of the box. It reared back before striking at the bottom with a dull thud. It reared back and struck again, but this time there was a deafening crack as the bottom of the box spider webbed like it was made with glass. As it reared again, Ezekiel brought forth his magic as well to strike at the bottom of the box as well. When he struck with the thread of magic, it was as if a great dam had burst and he was washed away with the torrents.

Erika's eyes suddenly widened as her mind became awash with new old memories. She remembered taking her very first breath and seeing the face of a light purple unicorn. She remembered her first words and how excited her parents were. She remembered her first day of magic school. She remembered being picked on for her love of books, causing her to seek comfort within the library and its collection of tomes. She remembered first meeting Spike and how she gained her cutie mark. She remembered the happy years she spent as Celestia's apprentice. She remembered arriving in Ponyville for the first time, and meeting the mares that would become her best friends. She remembered Nightmare Moon, and how she and her new friends worked together to defeat her. She remembered all the good times she spent with her friends in the ensuing year. She remembered when Discord was freed. She remembered when they faced down all his tricks and emerged victorious. She remembered how she and her friends used the Elements to seal him back in his stony prison, only for a bolt of pure black to strike her. She remembered the terror she felt as she sailed through the multiverse, how she struggled for breath in a plane of nothingness and how her body began to contort agonizingly. She remembered waking up in a cardboard box… and that is where it all went to hell.

"Arrrrgggh!" Grasping her head in pain, Erika recoiled from both Ezekiel and Celestia as two lifetimes of memories warred for dominance in her mind.

"Twilight!" Fluttershy called out in worry as Erika groaned and gritted her teeth in agony.

Erika turned her bloodshot eyes to the shy Pegasus. "THAT IS… not… my…" Erika's words died off as a look of utter stupefaction overrode her features.

'_My name is… Twilight Gefallen?_' Erika thought confusedly. '_NO, my name is Erika Sparkle! Wait… Twilight Erika?_'

"Gaaah!" Erika roared in intense frustration and pain as her mind twisted in on itself. "Father, help me!"

Even this action caused Erika pain and confusion. Two pictures appeared in her mind when she thought of her father. One was of Ezekiel with a kindly smile on his face; the other was of a blue unicorn she knew she had never met before.

'_What am I thinking_?' Erika thought in shame of herself. '_Of course I know that pony! That is the unicorn that raised me since I was filly! His name is… wait, filly? I mean girl right? And I wasn't raised by a unicorn; I was raised by Ezekiel and Su Li Gefallen… right?'_

Ezekiel had seen enough. "Out, all of you get out." He ordered Celestia and the five mares.

"Wait, Ezekiel!" Celestia defied the order in worry for her student. "I can help! This is…"

Ezekiel made his position quite clear; it was as if the air itself became as heavy as lead. Arcs of pink lightning ran along Ezekiel's form and ethereal hooked chains sprouted from his back to writhe in the air. Ezekiel stared down the ponies in front of him with a terrifyingly blank face, as the shadows in room contrasted sharply with the light.

"That was not a request."

Celestia found herself being pushed out of the room by five terrified mares and saw the door slam in front of her.

Ezekiel sighed as the lightning stopped and the chains receded into his body. He turned in time to catch Erika as she launched herself at him.

"…Daddy, please change me back." Erika said as she hugged him and shuddered in pain.

Ezekiel complied. He channeled his magic into Erika, and began altering her biology. As Erika shrunk down and changed back into her birth form, Ezekiel disintegrated the clothing from her, but altered her coat to fit her pony form. Now done, Ezekiel picked up his daughter and brought her onto the couch. He started running his hand through her mane to comfort her in some way.

The door to the room opened and closed quietly as Su Li entered. She walked over to Ezekiel and Erika and sat on the couch with them.

"Is she okay?" Su Li asked her husband, who only shook his head in response.

As Erika lay between both of her parents, her mind was awhirl with both familiar and unfamiliar memories alike. She recalled attending a race amongst the clouds, where the unicorn Rarity almost died when the spell giving her wings ran out and the pegasus Rainbow Dash had to pull herself back together and save her. She remembered her first day at the Warmage Academy and how everyone was in awe of her progress and quick mastery in many magics, and her graduation day when the symbol of one star superimposed over another appeared on her flank. She recalled getting two invitations to attend a gala from Princess Celestia and all the problems it caused. She remembered being sent on a mission to destroy a fountain that was both a religious symbol of an alien race, and the source of their eternal youth and physical perfection.

Suddenly the sounds of shouting and running feet sounded from behind the walls and doors. The doors slammed open as a Gefallen charged in.

"Ezekiel!" He yelled. "There is a problem, we need you!"

"I'm busy." Ezekiel replied absently.

"Right now Ezekiel!"

Ezekiel looked up from Erika with a troubled expression on his face; he turned to Su Li who matched him with her own. Ezekiel's family knew better than just to barge in when he was busy with family matters. If they were ignoring that unofficial rule, then something was very wrong.

"Take care of her for me." He said to Su Li, who gave him a nod, before running out the room.

**-several minutes later with the ponies-**

"I hope Twi- I mean Erika is alright." Fluttershy said. "She was in a lot of pain."

"Yeah, I mean the filly is a big jerk." Rainbow Dash replied from her spot, hovering above the group. "But nopony deserves to be in that much pain."

"I am sure that the good sir Ezekiel is taking good care of her." Rarity added. "After all, he is rather… protective of her." Rarity shuddered at the memory of the scene back in the room.

"That had to have been the scariest thing I ever saw." Applejack said.

"I know right!" Pinkie shouted. "What about you Princess? You didn't look very scared."

"Hey that's right!" Rainbow shouted as she swooped down to them. "You almost didn't react back there princess! Now I'm pretty awesome, but that was still pretty horsefeathering scary! You must have seen some pretty awesome and terrifying things to not react to that." Dash said as she pointed a hoof down the hall to where the room was.

Celestia was about to answer when several Gefallens came running around the corner. They were talking to each other in Atlantean, and sounded very angry, as they moved past the ponies without noticing them. Soon they were past, and going around another corner.

"I do wonder what is going on." Rarity said aloud.

"Me too, what was that all about?" Rainbow replied.

"Well we ain't going to find out standing around." Applejack said and took after the Gefallens.

"What?" Fluttershy squeaked. "But- but- but Applejack, that doesn't seem like a good idea! Oh hay…" She muttered, as the other ponies took off after Applejack, before running after them.

The ponies followed the Gefallens for several minutes before coming to a pair of open double doors. Inside was a large circular room with a decoratively arched ceiling. The walls were bare and there no windows in this room. In the center was a large holographic projector. The projector was on, and it displayed a starry night with several hundred pink dots on it, most of the pink dots had a swirling vortex of symbol beside them and were flashing red.

The room was full of Gefallens forming a rough circle around the projector. Next to the device was a Gefallen family member that was speaking loudly in Atlantean to everyone in the room, and pointing to certain spots on the hologram. Ezekiel was also there, he was pacing in front of the machine with a look of deep concentration on his face as his descendent was talking.

The ponies walk into the room wondering what the serious mood is for. Celestia walked up to one man to ask him.

"Excuse me sir?" She said. "I am wondering what is going. It appears to be something very serious."

The man looked at Celestia and furrowed his brows. He was about to tell Celestia that she and her ponies had to leave when Ezekiel heard her voice and suddenly appeared to have an epiphany. He turned to Celestia's direction and motioned for people to clear a path. Celestia approached Ezekiel with her ponies not far behind her.

"What is going on is that the Empire of Atlantis is now under assault on a vast majority of her worlds." Ezekiel announced to Celestia's and the mares' shock. "Who is attacking us on more than eight hundred worlds? They are called the Astral Lords."

"More cruel and greedy nobles?" Celestia replied tiredly.

"No, the words Lord and Lady are mere words to them, nothing more." Ezekiel answered with a shake of his head. "They are beings of the multiverse; they search the endless plane itself for interesting things, and watch them play out. However, if the universe they're interested in becomes boring or predictable, then the Astral Lords will leave or… more likely step in themselves to make things interesting again."

"I'm supposing that is a very bad thing." Rarity said as she pursed her lips distastefully, these Astral Lords didn't sound very lordly.

"When the member of a race capable of calling forth an infinite amount of soldiers and war machines, possession of true immortality, capable of great power and possessing no sense of responsibility, and in most cases maturity, decides to interfere in something? Yes I would call that a bad thing." Ezekiel responded causing the ponies to pale at the capabilities that just one Astral had.

"With all due respect Ezekiel, why are you telling the noble and her entourage about our problems?" The Gefallen, who had been telling everyone about the attacks, asked in Atlantean.

"Because my dear Edward." Ezekiel began, still in English. "Celestia and her ponies are the reason why we are currently under attack by our old enemy."

Instantly, there was an uproar of enraged shouting as the Gefallens reacted to the news. People began to approach the ponies with vicious magic's coming to life in their hands. The ponies gathered close together with wide eyes as they suddenly found themselves surrounded on all sides by people who wanted their death.

"Silence." Ezekiel's calm voice rang out over the cacophony. Despite their combined roar being deafening, everyone somehow heard his command and obeyed it instantly. The ones that had been advancing on Celestia and the five mares backed away with hateful glares.

"Ezekiel!" Celestia retorted once everything was quiet. "I would never willingly start war! I have only recently met your people and empire, and I don't think anypony could start such untold violence, let alone myself!"

"Believe me Celestia, I of all people now understand that better than anyone." Ezekiel replied. "You have worked hard for the thousand years of peace and prosperity your people enjoy under your rule. I think I would be hard pressed to find a way to make you declare war, without finding some way to defuse the situation with masterful negotiation. No Celestia, this is not your fault, but it is a very unfortunate consequence of you being here."

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked now that everyone was calm again.

"Despite the passage of the years, the Astral Lords still find us Atlanteans to be interesting to watch. However, they still become bored on an unfortunately regular basis. For the longest time, they loved watching us travel to other universes, and it kept them placated, but now they tend to get bored and interfere with inter-dimensional missions. However, imagine how interesting it is to see that it is us that are being visited by people from another universe?"

"Oh…" Celestia said as she realized what happened.

"Yes they saw us get visited by you, but then nothing 'interesting' happened after words, so they are now making it more interesting." Ezekiel said with a resigned nod, suddenly he stopped as a thought stroke him. "Celestia… I have seen your memories, but did you make any twists or turns when you made the cross over?"

"No, I only had control of the direction before casting the spell, not during." Celestia responded. "Why do you ask… wait, you don't think?" She started with raising horror.

"Yes Celestia, I do." Ezekiel Answered. "The Astral Lords not only know where your home is, but are very likely there, and are probably trying to burn it to the ground."

"Dear Celestia, no!" Fluttershy cried out. "Angel! My babies!"

"Sweetie Bell!" Rarity yelled, her eyes wide with fear. "My shop!"

"Oh no, oh no, oh no the farm!" Applejack shouted. "They're isolated! What is Big Mac going to do?"

"Gummy, the Cakes!" Pinkie cried her voice empty of her usual energy and her hair now deflated. "Our home town is helpless without us there!"

Rainbow Dash pulled Fluttershy into a hug as she began to have a panic attack, in an attempt to calm her. Rainbow tried not to think about what could be going on in Ponyville and focused on what was happening now.

Celestia wasn't much better off than her ponies. _'Luna… my sister. I left her in charge. I promised her that everything would be fine…'_ The Alicorn Princess gritted her teeth.

"Of course, the Atlantean Empire will gladly render military aid." Ezekiel said unexpectedly, instantly quieting the ponies.

"You would send help for my people, why?" Celestia was relieved and surprised, but she couldn't help but ask for his reasons.

"Why any half decent person would help his neighbor in their time of need." Ezekiel replied simply.

The five Elements of Harmony agreed that any half decent pony would help those in need, and were so very thankful that their home was going to get help it needed.

"Thank you." Fluttershy sniffed.

"I very gladly accept the Empire's offer of aid." Inwardly though, Celestia was reminding herself that though anypony would give help to those who need it, Ezekiel was no pony.

**-one day later in Erika's bedroom-**

Erika awoke with some confusion as to her location. Shaking the spider webs from her mind, she soon recognized the bed she woke up in as hers along with the room. Her room was located just opposite her brother Conrad's, just down the hall, and was the exact contrast of her quarters aboard the Sadistic Melody. The bed was big enough to hold four people, and give each one enough space to not sleep side by side. The rug was thick, and long enough for one to feel their feet sink in and feel the soft fibers stick up between the toes, and the silken curtains covered windows that nearly occupied the entire length and width of the wall. Along the walls were bookcases holding antique books and a doorway that led to her walk-in closet, it held the few clothes designed for her pony form and all the ones for her human one. An assortment of chairs, couches, and tables dotted the expanse of her large room as well.

Erika squinted her sleep encrusted eyes towards her curtains. Judging by the light streaming between the cracks, it was early morning. She laid in her bed and thought of how she got to be there. She remembered being in great mental pain and her mother telling her it'd be better if she just slept this off before everything went dark. Erika correctly guessed that her mother induced magical sleep by mind plunging the part of her brain that controlled the function. She grimaced as a blur of memories rushed through her mind and decided to go back to sleep.

She was about to drift off when her rooms computer started to ring. Erika groaned and was tempted to ignore it, but wasn't the sort to snub a call.

"Answer!" She groaned out.

Her computer answered with a beep and projected a holographic screen in front of her.

"Hey there Little Einhorn!" A cheerful voice said.

Erika widened her eyes and shot up in bed. "Conrad!" She greeted happily before suddenly wincing, the image of a white unicorn with a blue mane and a shield symbol upon his flank appeared in her mind.

"You alright there little sis?" Her blonde blue eyed brother asked with concern.

"I'm alright…" Erika replied shaking her head. "I just have a little headache."

"Okay, if you say so Little Einhorn." Conrad said with an unconvinced smile. "Listen, I wish I could talk to you longer, but we'll have to make this quick. I'll have to get back to fighting the invasion again soon."

"What invasion?" Erika asked in bewilderment.

"The Astral Lord invasion." Conrad answered simply. "They are attacking a lot of worlds and the one I'm stationed on is just one of them."

All the sluggishness of recently waking disappeared from her mind when Erika heard that. She moved to shoot out of bed and put on her uniform and armor when her brother called out to her.

"Slow down there Erika!" Conrad shouted. "Everything has already been handled while you were out. You'll be deployed in fourteen days to a conflict of vast importance."

"Oh… where am I being deployed?" Erika asked as she calmed down.

"Before dad left to fight the largest concentrations of Astrals, he ordered what few forces could be spared be gathered together to provide military aid to the world of Equestria against an Astral invasion there." Conrad Answered. "You and your company were among those chosen to be sent."

Panic suddenly rose in Erika at the thought of Equestria being under attack._ 'Oh no, Ponyville and Canterlot! Spike and all of my books! Dear Celestia I have to do something!... Dear Celestia? Why the hell am I swearing by that noble's name, and who's Spike?'_

Conrad watched with interest as panic appeared on Erika's features only to be replaced by confusion. "I heard about what happened between you, Princess Celestia, and Dad. But it looks like you are having…"

Suddenly Conrad turned his attention off screen as someone began shouting. "I have to go Erika. I hope to talk to you later." With that, the hologram faded away as the connection ended.

Erika sat on her bed for several moments with a pounding head in the ensuing silence. She decided she needed a drink, put on the coat she wore the day before, and left her room.

**-Later in a nearby dining room-**

Erika was sitting at a bar that was off to the side of a dining room. Two bottle of Sparkling Wine sat empty in front of her as she sipped from a glass she poured for herself. Her cheeks were flushed from the wine, and she had a smile on her face as she drank, not realizing she was holding the glass with her hoof.

A pair of double doors opened at one end of the room, and in walked five Elements of Harmony who looked thoroughly lost. They noticed who was sitting at the bar on a stool and ran up to her.

"Erika!" Applejack shouted and gained the now inebriated unicorn's attention. "Are you okay? We were worried 'bout ya when we couldn't found ya yesterday."

Erika narrowed her eyes at Applejack. Not in anger or hate, but in thought, as she tried to recall who was talking to her when she caught sight of demure Fluttershy. Had any of Erika's drinking buddies been present, they would not have been surprised at what happened.

"EPP!" Fluttershy squeaked as she was pulled into a tight hug by the sloshed Warmage.

"I'm shorry Fluttershy." Erika slurred slightly as she apologized to the pegasus. Memories of the shy, introverted pegasus she was holding eased themselves into her happily drunken mind, making her regret how she had treated the kind mare before. "I didn't mean to treat you so horribly, well actually I did, but I… well you know." She said somewhat lamely.

"Ummm… I-I accept your apology." Fluttershy stuttered out, quite a bit confused by Erika's sudden change in behavior. "Ummm Twilight- Oh I mean Erika, I'm sorry about that! I didn't mean to get them mixed up, please don't get angry!"

Erika only looked at the little Pegasus. She could not really tell which name felt right to her, as memories began to swirl in her mind, claiming one or the other was her name.

"Just… Just call me whatever you want for now." Erika replied. "Would you five like to take a seat?"

"Thank you darling." Rarity replied as she and the other mares began settling in on the stools. "We've been lost all morning wandering this massive structure! Oh, my poor hooves, I'm going to need a trip to the spa after all this excitement is over."

"They didn't give you a map?" Erika asked in surprise.

"What, you mean this useless hunk of metal they gave us?" Rainbow Dash said as she pulled a sort of PDA from… somewhere. "They told us this piece of junk would keep us from getting lost in this huge place. Well guess what happened after we got it?" The Rainbow-maned pegasus scoffed as she threw the PDA onto the bar. "They could have at least made it cooler by not making it plain gray."

Erika blinked in response to that. Sure most devices were designed for a people that would use magic to manipulate it, but there were still manual controls built-in. She reached over to the PDA on the bar and flicked the switch on the bottom to the 'ON' position.

"Oh, that's useful." Fluttershy murmured as she looked at the active screen while Dash rubbed her head sheepishly.

An oddly comfortable silence fell upon the group as Fluttershy tapped on the PDA, which was formatted for their language. The five mares found the violet unicorn to be completely differently than before, and they didn't know what to make of it, but they all thought it was a definite improvement from insults and threats. The drunken unicorn continued to sip away at her drink and project an aura of restrained happiness until Applejack decided to break the silence.

"So… Erika?" The cowpony said.

"Hmmm?"

"Would ya mind a whole lot if ah ask ya why ya hate nobles so much?" She asked.

Erika stiffened at the question and Applejack and her friends did so in response, wondering if she had crossed a line with her question. However, in her drunken state Erika was much more receptive to questioning, and memories from a lifetime ago continued to work unknowingly against her.

_'They are my friends.'_ Erika thought as images of times both good and bad flashed through her mind. _'This isn't the first secret I've shared with them and I trust them to not go telling everypony they meet about it.'_

Course of action decided, Erika reached out with her hoof towards the empty air above her. A small oval of violet sparks and flames appeared for a moment before letting out a small photo. Erika grabbed the photo in her hoof without thinking about it, and turned in her seat away from the bar. The five Elements of Harmony got off the stools and crowded in front of her. Erika gave a sad smile to the picture in her hooves before turning it over and showing the five.

The photo was actually two separate ones combined together. On one side of the photo was Erika in her human form, wearing her uniform. She had a man across her lap and was kissing him. He was also wearing a uniform that showed he was also a Warmage, and possessed short brown hair. The other picture was of Erika in her pony form wearing the resized coat of her uniform, and there was a colt that had a short brown mane and a brown coat with white patches here and there, he also wore a resized coat like Erika. Erika in this picture had her forelegs around the neck of the colt, her eyes were half lidded and her lips were curled into a smirk. The colt had a sheepish expression on his face.

"He was the same age as me." Erika started, gaining the attention of the five as she flipped the picture back over to look at it. "But I graduated from the Academy early and was a different rank than him. I can't tell you how much trouble I had convincing my superiors that our relationship was not going to jeopardize the chain of command!" Erika said with a somewhat hollow laugh.

"My-my squad, which he was in, was chosen to act as an escort for an Atlantean diplomat who was going to meet some Senators of an alien republic." Erika continued. "We went to their capital planet to meet them in an embassy they prepared for us. But the senators had a hidden motive for asking to meet with us. You see, they had a lucrative trade agreement with the Holy Vor'shan Empire, which was a solar empire we were at war with, so it was biting into their profits. So the Senators called us, and secretly called them, to get us into a surprise meeting to negotiate a peace treaty between us."

"That does not seem like such a horrid idea." Rarity stated.

"You're right, peace is something to aspire to regardless of reason, or so the saying goes." Erika replied with a frown. "Still, it would have been far better if we had been warned about who we were actually meeting. For you see, those in power over Vor'Shans were all devoted to a religion that preached the purity of their race. This one factor is what ultimately led to the war between our empires, as Atlantis is an empire of equal opportunity for all citizens, regardless of culture, race, or species and the Vor'Shan leadership looked down on us for it."

"The initial meeting and proceeding negotiations naturally started horribly." Erika said with glazed eyes as she vividly recalled the day. "But things went from bad to worse when the Vor'Shan somehow found out about my interspecies relationship. I don't know how, I think our diplomat mentioned it in an offhand remark to disprove something the Vor'Shan had said. I don't remember exactly what happened as it was confusing for me, but I was told that the Vor'Shan ship, which had been hidden nearby, lifted off. It flew over the embassy and proceeded to unleash its firepower on it before it was shot down by the orbiting Atlantean ship. The entire embassy was destroyed and everyone, save me and the Atlantean diplomat, was killed."

"That is what ultimately decided my stance on nobility." Erika said as she struggled to keep her face blank. "A bunch of idiots who thought they had the right to do anything they wanted because they were 'God's Chosen'."

Erika stared at the picture between her two hooves for several moments. She closed her eyes as a tear painstakingly built up in her eye, before running down her cheek. She widened her eyes when she felt herself get pulled off the stool and brought into a group hug.

"Shh, we're here for ya sugercube." Applejack soothed.

"It's okay to cry, it really helps." Fluttershy reassured.

Erika's mind began to sober and she began to squirm, when a memory of a hug like this came to the forefront of her mind. It was a much happier time and they were all smiling, but the feelings this memory brought up were palpable to her. Memory after memory went through her mind, telling of the times she shared laughter and tears with the mares holding her until she finally gave in and let her tears, that had remained unshed for eighteen years, finally go.

The five mares continued to hold the implacable mage that was now crying her heart out. They made soothing sounds to her and simply let her finally and properly grieve after nearly two decades.

Finally after several minutes, Erika began to calm and her breathing returned to normal.

"I tried moving on." She said suddenly. "I tried finding love again, but it always seemed so hollow when I hooked up with someone. There may be many fish in the sea, but only one made me think of the future… only one made me think of children."

"So I just stopped trying to find love and simply went out to blow off steam every once in a while." The mares all gained cherry red faces at the implications of that. "I would get someone who was strong enough to transform me into my human form. Then I'd go out and find someone decent enough to have a stand with before I was deployed for another six months." Yep, there was no doubt now about what Erika was talking about now. In Equestria, what happened between a colt and a filly in the privacy of their home remained between them. It was a beautiful thing to be sure, but it was also a private thing and was no one else's business, obviously the rules regarding that here were a bit different.

They stayed holding each other for several moments; most of it spent trying to make their embarrassment from Erika talking candidly about her sex life die down, when Pinkie couldn't help but ask one thing.

"Ummm, Erika?" Pinkie wanted her friends to be happy, she wanted them to smile and roll their eyes at her antics and not feel so troubled. But all her energy seemed to get sapped out of her when she thought of the danger her friends and family were going through right now back at home, which made her hair limp and lose its volume. "What were you drinking? It kinda stinks."

Erika suddenly flashed Pinkie a beautiful smile, before wiping her eyes with the back of her forelegs and leaping out of the hug. The purple unicorn leapt over the bar and disappeared over the edge. There was the sound of several bottles clacking against each other before several bottles of Sparkling Wine floated to the top of the bar.

"It's called Sparkling Wine; I've always liked it for some reason, something about the name..." Erika explained as she placed several glasses on the table. "Why don't you try some and see what it's like?"

The five Elements of Harmony decided to do so. After all what harm could a drink do?

**-later in a nearby fountain-**

A ring of servants stood surrounding a fountain. There was a disturbance, but they were at a loss of ideas to solve it.

Around and in the fountain were six ponies that were having the time of their lives. Rarity was passed out on the edge of the fountain with a flushed face, a small collection of empty wine bottles stood around her head and she held one in her hoof. Pinkie Pie stood on the edge of the fountain, her hair had regained its curls and volume, but she was having an argument with the 'ugly pink filly in the water,' trying to get 'her' to stop giving her dirty looks. Fluttershy was flying circles around the fountain and doing aerial stunts that would've made even Rainbow Dash a dizzy. Applejack was on the very top of the fountain standing on her hind legs, with Erika and Dash in the fountain cheering her on.

"Woo Hoo!" Applejack whooped, her forelegs raised above her head.

Erika and Rainbow laughed; suddenly Rainbow dived under the water of the deep fountain. She came back up with bulging cheeks and pressed her hooves to the side of her face. A stream of water shot out of Dash's mouth with pinpoint accuracy, and struck Applejack in the face.

"Gah!" Applejack shouted and tried to block the stream of water with her forelegs as she stepped back. Unfortunately for Applejack, there was only room for about one step back on the top of the fountain.

"Arrrgh!" Applejack managed to get out before she landed with a splash. She came back up a second later sputtering water, her cowpony hat sagged over her head.

Erika and Rainbow Dash howled with laughter. Dash stopped laughing as a shadow fell over her, and she had just enough time to look up and see the wide eyes of Fluttershy, apparently having miscalculated the last loop of her sextuple loop de loop. There was a massive splash that sent water everywhere, causing Rarity to snort in her sleep and Pinkie to accuse her reflection of splashing her.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both floated belly up and dazed in the fountain with Erika shaking water out of her mane nearby. Rainbow Dash turned her head to the side and saw Applejack floating next to her with a dark gleam in her eye.

"Ya think that's funny, huh?" She said with a dark smile. "Well how do ya like these apples!"

Applejack raised a hoof over Rainbow Dash's head and proceeded to viciously dunk the pegasus. Dash managed to get out from under Applejack's assault and leapt at her.

Erika smiled as she wrenched the half full bottle from Rarity, and watched the show as Fluttershy started to swim in little circles by using her wings to paddle.

**-the next morning in Erika's room-**

Erika sat on a couch she had pulled next to her bed. She sipped a cup of coffee as she smirked at the sight before her.

The five Elements of Harmony lying in Erika's large bed. They were all awake, but sincerely wished they weren't as their heads pounded with vicious hangovers. Erika was not suffering from this ailment, and seemed to take great joy in subtly rubbing it in while she waited for servants to arrive with hangover tablets for the mares.

Her smirk turned into a troubled frown as she recalled drinking and partying the whole day before with the ponies. She was considered a good happy drunk and personally wasn't surprised with herself over what she did. Her deployment was not for another thirteen days roughly, so no problem there. What bothered her was how open she was with them, telling them secrets she shared only with the closest of her family. She found herself at a loss of how to react to that; on one hand, she wanted to make sure they didn't go telling everyone, on the other, she felt that she could trust the ponies who she had only met three days ago.

_'Well that is not entirely true is it?'_ Erika thought as she recalled knowing these mares a lifetime ago. _'Yes… perhaps I could trust them with this.'_

The doors to the hallway open as several Elven servants enter carrying glasses of water upon trays with tablets to help relieve a hangover. The servants walked towards the bed and began to explain the purpose of the tablets and water.

Erika took another drink by holding the mug with her hoof. An ability she recently realized she now instinctively had, and planned to make great use of.

"Urggggh, thanks." Applejack muttered as she took the now fizzing drink and downed it in one gulp.

"Soooo…" Erika began somewhat unsurely. "What did you think of wine?"

"Awesome." Applejack answered while face down on the bed. "Cept for the horrible, horrible headache that comes afterwards."

"That only happens when you have too much, or you are unable to flush alcohol from your system." Erika replied.

"Alcohol?" Applejack's head shot up from the bed. "Ain't that what the doctors use to clean wounds and stuff?"

"Well… yes."

"T'aint smart to go an drink chemicals like that." Applejack said. "Ahh hay, now I know why my heads poundin'."

"Alcohol is safe to ingest in the right quantities Applejack." Erika replied. "As long as it's not a two hundred proof, I'm pretty sure that's the kind doctors use. That's not going to stop you from having more right?"

"Buck no Erika, Ah ain't known for my smarts after all, and we did have a lot of fun." The cowpony smiled before grimacing as her head pounded. "…Just not right now, my head feels like that one time Big Mac missed the tree bucked me instead."

Erika laughed before her expression was replaced by a frown. "Applejack, listen, about yesterday…"

"Ya don't want us to mention it, right?" Applejack said with an equal frown. She wondered if Rainbow was right about this mare being a lot like Nightmare Moon.

"What? No, I'm not running from this." Erika said firmly. "It's just, this is all so sudden, but I keep getting all these memories of how great friends we were before. I wonder if that's even possible now though, you're civilian, I'm military. You can stay in one place and I'm always being redeployed somewhere else. You live in a different universe from me; I'm just wondering if trying to be friends is worth the effort it would take."

"Won't find out until we try!" Rainbow shouted with a cocky smile, her hoof rubbing her pounding head. Erika may not be Twilight exactly, but Dash was not going to give up on somepony that easily!

"…That is true." Erika smiled weakly. "There is plenty of time before I go save your home."

"Our home Erika." Fluttershy said as she emerged from a tangle of blankets. "It's your home too you know."

"Really?" Erika said and got nods from the ponies on her bed. "Even after how badly we got off on the wrong foot- I mean hoof- I mean- oh you know what I mean! Even after that you can bear with the thought of me living next door to you?" Erika shook her head, wondering if she should think of them as being naïve or just innocent.

"Oh do shut up!" Rarity snapped at all of them. The glamorous unicorn snatched a cup of fizzing water from an Elf's offering hand and downed it in one go. "You all can have your touchy feely moment after my own head stops trying to kill me!"

Erika simply chuckled while the others stared, shocked at Rarity's outburst. The purple unicorn just made a note to watch how much Rarity had for next time.

**-thirteen days later aboard the sadistic melody-**

Celestia stood on the bridge of the Sadistic Melody once more, thankfully without the restraints this time. It was a long two weeks for Celestia, as she waited for the time to go back home and the Atlantean forces to gather. Only the fact that fifteen days in this universe was roughly equal to one hour back home prevented her from simply gathering the Elements of Harmony and heading back to help her people and her sister.

She stared up at the image on the holo-screens and took them in. There were two absolutely massive ships, ten miles long, four miles wide, and five miles at their tallest points. Their entire size was devoted to one task, ripping open the fabric of reality and creating a stable long term connection between this universe and the one Equestria resided in, and forcing both to match each other's passage of time in the process.

Long term, Celestia didn't like the sound of that. Now that she knew this empire was capable of constructing such monstrosities in little over two weeks, she really didn't like the idea of them having constant access to her home. Not that she would have liked the idea any better before she knew of this. The books she had read of both Atlantis' and humanities' past attested to constant conflict and strife. With all the pain and suffering this species was always inflicting upon themselves, and any who happened to be nearby, she wondered how anyone could be born sane.

But… she needed them. The books she read told her in greater detail of the Astral Lords. There were more of them then there were stars in the universe, and that was a lot considering there were over two hundred billion galaxies and counting. Each one was capable of great feats of strength, speed, and inconsistent degrees of realty warping, and each one could call forth billions upon billions of soldiers. One book had stated the defense force of one of their planets had killed well over a trillion soldiers, and more continued to pour forth from the breach in reality. The only thing that seemed to keep the Astral Lords from dominating entire universes with their power was the fact that they only wanted to see and experience interesting things. Their attentions were not focused on any one universe, but as many as they could access, the endless nature of the multiverse made sure the Astral Lords would always have something to see thankfully.

Celestia frowned distastefully. The more she thought of the Astral Lords, the more she was sure that Discord would have loved them.

The sound of a round of loud laughter broke the Alicorn Princess out of her thoughts, and she turned to the disturbance.

It was the bridge technicians, they were laughing at a joke Erika had told to the five Elements. Judging from the cherry red, mortified faces of the mares, it was another 'dirty' one. Things between Erika and the five mares had definitely improved, but there were problems that cropped up now and then. Sometimes Erika would tell the five about one of her proudest moments as a Warmage, that she was sure was okay for them to hear about, only to end up horrifying the five and making things awkward between them for the next few hours. Other times, she would tell them a dirty joke like she had just done, or relay an 'awesome R-rated' story she heard once from a friend, and end up insulting the ponies' sensibilities or making Fluttershy faint. Thankfully, the joke wasn't horrible enough to make the demure pegasus faint, she just felt faint instead.

Though the relationship between the six was off to a decidedly rocky start, it was definitely appearing to be one that would last. Celestia wished the same could be said of the relationship between the two of them. There was no doubt that it was also an improvement from before, but considering that before she was being glared at and threatened by the Atlantean Unicorn, almost anything was better. Now Erika would give Celestia wary looks and give blunt answers when the Alicorn would seek a conversation with her. It hurt Celestia deeply for one she had considered to be an adopted daughter to treat her in such a way.

As Celestia waited for Captain Alexandria to finish her talk with Ezekiel and begin their journey, she could only hope that time would close the distance that appeared between her and her student.

"Everything is ready sir." Captain Alexandria told Ezekiel in Atlantean. "The Battalion is aboard, the four TACs are ready , and we have a full complement of gunships to ready deploy once we get there."

"Very good Captain." Ezekiel told Alexandria from the holo-screen, he was actually on the edge of Atlantean space fighting the larger clusters of Astrals. "You have my permission to leave on your mark."

"Yes sir, should I take the Golem Ships with me as well?" She asked.

"How many golems are aboard?"

"About two hundred and fifty million units ready for deployment sir." Alexandria answered.

_'Hmmm, should we are should we not?'_ Ezekiel thought to himself. _'Should we be the shining knights riding to the rescue, or the opportunistic scavengers coming to feed?'_

Ezekiel had seen Celestia's memories. He knew of just how magical the world of Equestria was. Gems grown out of actual rock farms, strange and interesting plants with magical effects, and a population of many different sapient species, each with useful skills and abilities. And that was only what Celestia knew about. Ezekiel wasn't so foolish as to believe the Alicorn's rather naïve belief that she knew everything about her world. He himself kept finding out things that surprised him from his own world of Atlantis, even in this day and age.

And that brought him back to the original question. Should he or should he not? Ezekiel mimed flipping a coin.


	12. Chapter 9 : Astral War

Ezekiel opened his hand wide. His expression was completely blank as his thoughts raced. He clenched his hand tightly.

"Captain, keep the golem ships on this side." Ezekiel told Alexandria. "Call them in to assist you if you need the help, but otherwise, they stay here."

_'Such a novel experience this will be.'_ Ezekiel thought as Alexandria nodded and ended the connection. _'To be the heroes for once… who knows? We may even get a statue for it.'_ He chuckled mirthlessly.

_'Besides… there is more than one way to conquer a world.'_

The captain of the Sadistic Melody turned from the computer console to face Erika. "Captain Sparkly we will be heading off soon. Go report to your battalion CO in the hanger bay."

Erika saluted with her hoof, causing Alexandria to arch an eyebrow as she used to nod her head, and turned to her friends.

"Okay I have to go now, stay here." Erika ordered firmly and stamped her hoof on the deck. "Leave the fighting to us Warmages okay? It's our job, not yours, to risk our necks."

"Ah come on Erika!" Rainbow Dash complained as her blush from earlier died down. "I don't think we're going to be able to get off here that easily!"

"Ah don't think you need to worry about too much there sugercube." Applejack said with a half-hearted smile. "It's one thing to get into a scrap with a bunch of Diamond Dogs. It's a whole 'nother thing to get mixed up in army colt stuff."

"Well okay, as long as you realize that." Erika said with a relieved smile. "You- well- WE tended to get into a lot of trouble back… home."

"…I suppose that goes for you too." Erika said a little hesitantly as she faced Celestia, who was off to the side. "You may be a god, but there is more to fighting then pure power. A thousand years of peace may be a great thing, but I don't think what combat skills and reflexes you had survived it intact."

"Of course Erika." Celestia said with a slight smile. "I'll leave this in your capable hooves."

"…hooves, right." Erika shook her head as she left the bridge.

"The portal ships report they are all green and are starting the charging process." A technician reported. "Time till crossover, t-minus ten minutes."

"Good, we are on schedule." Captain Alexandria replied.

"All TACs are ready to deploy the moment we arrive, ma'am."

"Gunships are secure and the AI is prepped and ready."

"T-minus nine minutes."

"The battalion is still gathering supplies in the hanger bay, but should be ready to deploy for hard dropping a few minutes after arrival."

"Now running diagnostics on the gun batteries, shields, power core, armor layers, and bulkheads."

"T-minus, eight minutes."

"All bulkheads are reporting integrity at one hundred percent and nanotube armor layers are all sealed."

"All the ship's crew are in their assigned stations ma'am."

"T-minus, seven minutes."

"Power core is in pristine condition and is generating at an optimal five zettajoules a second."

"T-minus, six minutes."

"Shields are fully charged and report a mitigation ratio of eighty percent."

"T-minus, five minutes."

"Maser cannon batteries and particle wave repeaters are green…"

"T-minus four minutes."

"Scram batteries are reporting stable ammunition feeds…"

"T-minus three minutes."

"Electro Lasers are fully charged at an exajoule each…"

"T-minus two minutes."

"Alpha-Omega Cannon is in pristine condition with all systems running at peak condition."

"T-minus one minute."

"Secondary checks… all weapons are green and good to go!"

"T-minus thirty seconds."

This was the moment the ponies had waited for with baited breaths. They were going home, and with the help of the Atlantean Empire, they were going to drive the Astral Lords away from it. They were extremely nervous though, as they couldn't imagine what the condition of Equestria could be when they returned. They just hoped that it was nothing like the memory of when they first arrived in this universe…

"Five… four… three… two… one… zero."

The ponies watched to see what inter-dimensional travel would be like from within a ship. At first nothing happened, but on the screen, errors began to pop up as everything around the Sadistic Melody and one of the portal ships seemed to melt. The effect quickly stopped and was reversed. As the ponies began to wonder what went wrong everything immediately stretched off into infinity. It was as if some giant had taken the bridge in both hands and pulled on both ends, but instead of breaking, the bridge stretched like dough. Celestia raised her hoof in front of her face and immediately got a headache as she saw half her hoof where it was supposed to be and the other half reaching out into infinity.

Suddenly the effect stopped and everything returned to normal. The viewing screens all had the Atlantean words for 'Rebooting' on them, and the technicians were shaking their heads from the mind warping experience. The screens finished recovering and showed the world of Equestria to the Atlanteans and the ponies. Celestia and her mares were struck into silent horror at what they saw.

Equestria was burning under the afternoon sun, Ponyville, Canterlot, and all the outlaying farms and villages. Smoke rose from every visible settlement in tall foreboding columns.

The sky of Equestria was dominated by a massive tear in reality; it pulsed in mind searing colors and seemed to grow ever larger. Ships poured out of it, not the highly advanced ships like the Atlanteans, but wooden sail ships. Galleons, Frigates, Sloops, Brigs, and Ships of the Line dominated the skies of the equine world in their overwhelming numbers. All bearing a skull and cross bones Jolly Roger that had little black dots on the jaw of the skull, like it had some stubble.

"Looks like the Age of Sail Court." Stated one of the bridge technicians, when he saw the ships.

"… Age of Sail Court?" Only Rarity was in any state of mind to ask anything.

"It's basically a large fan club dedicated to a certain theme." Celestia answered as she gritted her teeth in anger at the sight before her. "For this 'Court' it's pirates. But there are many more different Courts."

"Get us in position next to the portal ship!" Alexandria roared. "We have to protect it to ensure a steady stream of reinforcements should the situation escalate! All guns, fire at will!"

"Ma'am we are in atmosphere!" Shouted a technician.

"I am aware of that, shut down the Maser Cannons." The Captain replied. "We don't want to end up irradiating everything within a hundred miles. Otherwise fire at will and hope the locals have good ear doctors!"

"Aye, aye ma'am, issuing fire at will."

On the surface of the Melody, large strips of the ships armor began retracting. Behind each one was a battery of weapons. The multiple barrels of the Scram batteries and the Particle Wave Repeaters spun up for a few moments before unleashing their payloads. An ear shattering roar echoed miles before even beginning to lose its potency. Ships by the thousands fell to the ground in flaming wrecks or clouds of splinters and shredded cloth. But it mattered little, as thousands more sailed forth to replace them.

"Major Cobalt, Squadron Leader Richard." Alexandria said to the officers on the holo-screen. "Both of you are good to go, show them what Atlanteans are made of." The Air and Field Mage COs nodded in acknowledgement.

**-in the hangar bay of the Melody-**

Major Cobalt watched as Squadron Leader Richard flew out of the cavernous hangar with four TACs in tow, the Melody's dragonfly like gunships were not far behind. Cobalt turned to face the scene on the hanger deck he stood on. His entire Battalion was busy getting everything they needed, or were getting onto drop ships. It never seemed to fail, no matter how much someone planned there was always a last minute rush of things that needed to be done.

"Captains Erika, Fredrick, Sammy, and Vinzenz ." Cobalt spoke into his coms. "Report for orders and deployment zones."

Erika, two humans in their standard issue pitch black armors with Murmillo style helmets, and an insectoid alien, who wore black armor designed for his form, soon arrived. The insectoid being had a long wide flattened head, four arms and multi-jointed legs that ended in wide 'X' shaped feet.

"Captain Erika…" Cobalt said once they were next to him. "You are taking your company to… Canterlot? Yes, you are going there to secure the palace and Princess Luna. You may attempt to retake the city itself if it is achievable without endangering the objective. Captain Fredrick you are going to take and secure the town… heh, wow, Ponyville? Yes, I will be accompanying you as well to set up a fallback location and ground command. Captains Sammy and Vinzenz, you both are going to secure the routes between the two locations. After achieving that you may extend your fields of operation to relieve the farms and villages. Also in light of that, every squad is going to have a mage with medical supplies that work on non-Atlanteans. Alright everyone understand?" He asked and got confirming nods. "Good let's go!"

The four Captains walked away to get ready for their deployments, with one followed by the Major. Erika trotted over to where her company was situated and looked for the squad she preferred to accompany. She soon found them, Jacobs and his squad were loading some equipment into the drop ship but they were not alone.

"Jasmine!" Erika Greeted happily. "How are you doing, and how is your baby for that matter?"

"Hey there Cap'." Jasmine greeted with a two fingered salute. She was a pale skinned woman with raven hair that was cut short, but had one long bang over her right eye. She had green eyes and had her lip pierced with a silver band that wrapped around the middle of her lip. "The brat was about three months along when I got him removed and put into a growth and birthing chamber for the next six months. I get leave for about five years when h's 'born' to help raise him and develop family ties. I gotta admit, I'm looking forward to it!" Jasmine smiled.

"That's great news!" Erika replied with a delighted smile, despite the slight painful twinge she felt in her chest. "Anyway, to business, Jacobs!"

"Ma'am?"

"I want Emily carrying a pack of medical supplies for any civvies we encounter." The violet unicorn ordered. "Pass the order along to the other squads as well. One mage is to carry a pack of medical supplies for non-Atlanteans, got it?"

"Right away, ma'am." Jacobs replied before swiftly walking away to fulfill the command.

**-with Squadron Leader Richard-**

Richard flew through the air. He wore winged armor, but unlike the Assault Mage armor, this was designed for Air Mages and had far longer wings. All four TACs were behind him, flying in formation along with the entirety of the gunships.

The Melody continued to fill the skies with the sound of its weapons, destroying countless Astral ships. Its barrage had given it and the portal ship roughly two miles of breathing space, as Astral ships continued to sail towards them and fire their broadsides. Remarkably, the cannonballs would somehow travel miles and hit the shields of the Melody, despite being fired out of cannons with messy gunpowder.

"This is Squadron Leader Richard to all units." Richard announced into his coms. "I want the airspace over Ponyville, Canterlot and everywhere in between cleared of all these Astral assholes. I want a wing to escort Captain Sparkly's company to the capital, not one of them goes down! Alright you know the drill, let's tear em up!" He shouted before accelerating with a bang.

As Richard passed under the keel of a Galleon, he twisted over and swung his arm. A whip of orange light lashed out and passed through the keel and much of the ship. The wood blackened before crumbling to dust, causing the ship to split in half as it fell to the earth below.

Richard's Air Mages were not far behind him. They too were soon among the masses of ships, unleashing their magic on the wooden hulls. Clouds of splinters filled the air as explosions decimated the Astral fleet. The gunships were close behind, raking the decks of the ships with AMP fire and plasma throwers when they strafed close to them.

Behind them, drop ships began streaming out of the hanger bay of the Melody. They formed up before flying towards their designated drop zones.

**-inside a drop ship headed for Ponyville-**

Cadet Battle Mage Zoe was waiting for the green light to go. Her squad consisted of five Battle Mages and Five Assault Mages, including herself. The drop ship was shaking slightly it flew across the battleground that Equestria has become. The Warmages gripped their harnesses as the ship suddenly turned sharply to the side to avoid being hit by enemy fire. A loud buzzer went off in the compartment while the light over the door turned green.

"Go go go!" Zoe's squad leader shouted as the door quickly lowered.

Her squad leapt out of their seats and out into the open air, with her not far behind. Zoe began to maneuver herself while in free-fall to get into a diamond formation. However, musket shots and cannon fire started to fill the air, most of the mages just allowed their armor to tank, but Zoe was forced to roll out of the way when a cannonball came screaming towards her.

Zoe saw that she did not have enough time to regroup with her squad, so she began deploying her Jotun power armor. By the time she hit one of the streets of Ponyville, her armor was fully deployed to its twelve feet.

Emerging from the newly formed crater and the dust cloud, Zoe found herself surrounded by Astral soldiers. As expected, they were all styled to look like stereotypical human pirates. Peg-legs, eye patches, striped shirts and head rags, long coats, tricorn hats, and parrots on their shoulders. If it was typical for a pirate to have or wear, then there was probably an example of it here somewhere.

"Yarrr, it be one o' them Atlanteans!" …oh yes, can't forget the way they talked. "Come on lads! Let's cut is gizzard ou-guuurrk!"

Zoe brought her runed great sword close and examined the pirate impaled on it for a moment. A second later, she flicked her blade and sent the corpse flying into a crowd of his shipmates. The pirates drew their pig iron cutlasses and their flint lock pistols at this and 'Yaaaarrr'ed as one before charging her.

Zoe met the mass of pirates with a charge of her own. The pirates could not match her and were sent flying, a fully deployed Jotun armored Battle Mage easily weighed several tons. Dozens of pirates leapt at her and clung to her armored form as they tried to stab their cutlasses into her joints, smart but ultimately futile.

Crimson flame leapt to life all over Zoe's form, instantly incinerating those who hung onto her and simply igniting any who were unlucky enough to be close. Despite the brutality of their shipmates' deaths, the pirates continued to attack with wild abandon. They swung their blades at her; they were cut down by the dozens. They fired their pistols into the face of her helmet, and were given a heavy metal punch that rendered them into pulverized, bloody meat. Some tried to slow her by clinging to her legs, only to be crushed under her boots into paste.

Soon enough, the last pirate in the street was being literally curb stomped and Zoe was left alone amongst the dead with sounds of battle in the neighboring streets being her only company. Her amour was scuffed and covered in small, shallow scratches that one could easily mistake for scratches in the paint.

The thing about this though, was the scratches weren't supposed to be possible, at least when pig iron cutlasses were concerned. Zoe's amour was made of magically reinforced nanotubes that were quite a few orders of the magnitude stronger then diamond, yet it was covered in small scratches from the blades and barely noticeable indents from musket ball impacts.

Zoe breathed in deeply and focused her magic into the armor, the scratches and indents began to fill in or pop out. She was no artificer, but Zoe's training made sure she was capable of regenerating armor plates and managing some minor mechanical repairs, anything more and she had to wait until she could get to an artificer. Soon all signs of damage faded and her armor, though still covered in blood and dirt, returned to its pristine state.

"Sil, RUN!" A terrified voice shouted above the sounds of battle, it was followed by the sound of a blade tearing through flesh and the scream of a horrified little girl.

Zoe turned towards an alley in the direction the shout came from and ran.

**-with Erika-**

Erika studied her HUD as the drop ship shook with what seemed to be immense amounts of turbulence. She was looking at a simplified top down view of the battlefield, the convoy of drop ships sailed through the air with their escort of Air Mages. According to the map, the green blips, them, were moving through a literal sea of red, the Astrals, but the wing of Air Mage escorts where doing a superb job of clearing their flight path. As a clearing line on the map leading them to Canterlot showed.

"Gaaah!" The Assault Mage Emily shouted as the interior echoed with the sound of ringing metal. Erika looked at her and saw Emily rubbing the back of her helmeted head, while looking at a bulge in the armored wall behind her. Likely the result of a cannonball, Emily unbuckled herself and took the seat next to her.

"Get ready, we're almost there!" The pilot shouted over the intercom.

"This is Captain Sparkly to all platoon commanders." Erika stated into her coms. "First and second platoons are with me, we are securing the palace. Third, fourth, and fifth platoon are going to clear the city. They are probably going to have artillery units in the streets, I don't want them firing on the palace and potentially killing everyone inside." Erika started to feel intensely uncomfortable at the thought of people getting killed and struggled to get rid of the feeling.

The light turned green and Erika had no more time for an emotional crisis. She was among the first out the door and into the air.

Erika took the head of the diamond formation and aimed herself towards the smoking palace, doing her best to ignore the tumultuous feelings she had when she saw the condition of the home of the princess. Seven other squads formed up near hers, as they rapidly approached the occupied home of the Equestrian royalty. Her armor's wings snapped open and started to slow her fall, the other Assault Mages followed suit as the Battle Mages grew to their full heights and accelerated.

Erika's Battle Mages crashed through the walls near the ground floor of the palace, Erika and her Assault Mages were quick to dart inside. Their HUDs highlighted the forms of pirates in the dust from the destroyed walls, Erika and the Assault Mages let loose their magic. Erika sent a quick spark bolt to the head of one of the leading pirates and was about to strafe the rest with more when she froze.

_'I-I-I k-killed somepony…'_ Erika thought to herself in mute horror. _'H-he was just minding his own business and I just killed him, just like that…'_

Erika stood frozen as the mages under her command continued to battle. Jasmine and Jacobs had noticed their commanding officer stop fighting in the middle of a battle and begin to shake, but they were too busy dealing with Astral troops to go to her at the moment.

_'W-what is wrong with me?'_ Erika thought as she tried to regain control of her emotions._ 'I've killed before! By the First Generation, I've probably killed millions by proxy alone! D-d-dear Ce-Celestia I-I've killed millions, I'm a monster!'_

Her internal battle was abruptly ended as a loud roar of cannon fire resounded from above them. The entire palace seemed to shake as cannonballs impacted it. Erika had enough time to look up to see a several hundred pound piece of masonry fall atop of her.

**-with Richard in the air space around Canterlot-**

"Shit." Squadron Leader Richard muttered as he took another glance over his shoulder.

The cannonball was still there. The ball of solid iron had been following him for the past few minutes and no maneuver Richard had done managed to lose the self-guided round. Richard took another look at the sky battle going on around him and spotted a particularly large galleon. He flew at the ship and darted into it through the extra-large cannon ports. He flew through the inner deck of the ship, twisting like a corkscrew, with his entropy whips hitting everything around him. Richard sent a blast of orange lighting in front of him and sent a cannon crashing through its port and flew out it.

Richard turned back and saw the ship collapsing in on itself, beginning to lose altitude. Richard frowned and continued to watch the ship; a cannonball exploded out of the side of the falling ship and soared towards him.

"Knew it." Richard's mouth piece opened a moment as he spat towards the ground far below. "Screw this."

Richard raised his hand towards the oncoming cannonball and shot a bolt of lightning. The lightning struck the ball and it exploded in a burst of fireworks. Richard blinked in surprise, he hadn't expected that to work, nor had he expected such explosive results.

"Figures, I hate Astrals…" Richard muttered.

Far above in the massive cloud of ships, a large form began to appear out of it. It was a ship of the line… only half the size of the Melody, meaning it was very big. Richard stared as the ship drifted down towards the Equestrian capital. It got into position and turned and prepared to fire a full broadside, all several hundred decks worth.

Richard gritted his teeth, he was too far away and the ship was too big, it would probably require the entire attention of all the TACs and the attachment of gunships to bring down quickly. All the cannons fired and created a storm front worth of smoke. The air seemed to vibrate with the sound from the sure number of shots as they rained down upon Canterlot. They hit everywhere, the city, the castle, the country side, nothing was spared. Richard glared down as many buildings in the city began to collapse and some of the palace towers started to fall over.

"Captain Sparkly, do you read!" He called over his coms." Captain Sparkly! Captain, do you read!"

**-with Zoe back in Ponyville-**

Zoe reached the end of the alley and took in the scene in front of her. There was a large crowd of pirates standing in the street; they were all facing away from Zoe and towards an earth pony and a filly. The earth pony was on the ground with a large deep gash in his neck that no longer bled, he was obviously dead. The filly beside him had a symbol of a spoon on her flank, had a gray coat and a mane that was pulled into a long braid, on her muzzle was a pair of baby blue eyeglasses.

"Get up, Daddy!" She yelled as she desperately tugged on the dead pony's mane. "We have to run! Please get up, please!"

"Arr har har har, looks like we get meat to go with the rum and grog lads!" Shouted a pirate wearing a tricorn hat and dirty long coat.

"And veal to go along with it!" Another added happily.

Zoe immediately remembered a scene a lot like this one. There was a little girl with red hair pulled into pigtails; she wore an emerald green sundress that was ruined by mud and dust. She was kneeling in front of the corpses of a man and a woman. She kneeled, transfixed by their bodies as insectoid like machines closed on them from all around.

Zoe's enraged scream was transformed into a terrifying baritone roar by her armor's vocalizer as she charged forward. Only the lead pirates had enough time to see what was coming before they were under attack from the outraged Battle Mage. Zoe was a whirlwind of death as her massive form twirled and moved with far more grace and speed than something her size had the right to have. She didn't use the edge of her sword though, instead she used the flat and hit with so much force that her targets disintegrated into bloody chunks with every blow. It seemed like it had only taken a few moments for Zoe to coat the entire street in a fresh shade of red, and have the final pirate with the tricorn hat beneath her boot, probably because it was. With a squelch beneath her boot, Zoe marched towards the little gray filly she had saved.

Silver Spoon stood frozen as the black giant walked towards her, with heavy steps that seemed to shake the world around her. It was a grisly sight for the little mare, the figure before her was dripping wet with spilled blood and its form was covered with gore. It stopped in front of her and reached towards her with one of its huge, bloody, iron hands that was as black as midnight.

"NO! GET AWAY!" Silver Spoon screamed as she shielded her head with her forelegs.

To Zoe, this reaction also brought a familiar memory to mind. Her armor began to shift as she ordered it to return to its deactivated form. Silver Spoon heard the sound of whirring motors, but was too terrified to take her hooves off of her eyes. Her armor now reduced to a simple black cuirass over a gray jumpsuit, Zoe reached out with a bare hand to the little filly again.

"Hey…" Zoe said softly, causing the filly to look up in surprise. "It's okay, my name's Zoe. I'm here to save you. Don't be afraid." Zoe had ruby red hair and eyes, her face was framed by two long bangs and the rest of her hair was tied into a tight bun in the back.

Silver Spoon was shocked by the sudden disappearance of the giant and appearance of this female ape like creature in front of her. She saw expression of warmth and compassion on Zoe's face, and the realization that her father was dead finally hit the little gray mare. She leapt forward into Zoe's arms and began to cry heartbrokenly.

Zoe made comforting sounds as she stoked the mane of the filly in her arms. She stood up and began to look around for somewhere to go; anywhere that was safe would have been adequate at the moment. After a moment however, an announcement over her coms told her where to go.

"This is Major Cobalt to all units." The Major stated. "We have secured the Ponyville town center. It is now the battlefield command for all ground units. We also have set up the area as a hospital for wounded civilians. If you have any non-combatants with you, take them here and we'll keep them safe. Major Cobalt, out."

'_That's convenient.'_ Zoe thought to herself.

Destination decided, Zoe brought up a small visor and placed it over her eyes, on the inside of the lens, waypoints to the town center appeared. Zoe started running, not very fast, with the little filly in her arms, but the buildings started to blur as she ran past. She turned a corner and skidded to a stop. In front of her was another large crowd of pirates.

Silver Spoon started to whimper in Zoe's arms at the sight of the pirates, and tried to bury her head in Zoe's chest. Zoe shifted the little mare around until she was being held in one of her arms. With her free arm, the Cadet Battle Mage drew her resized runed sword and looked for a place safe to tuck Silver. A moment later it was proven unnecessary.

Bright yellow orbs rained down from the sky and began to explode within the pirate horde. Silver Spoon managed to avoid the traumatic sight of several dozen humans being flash fried before being blown away by kinetic force. An Assault Mage appeared from a hiding spot on the roofs of Ponyville before floating a few feet in the air next to Zoe.

"Hello Zoe." He greeted in Atlantean. "We got a bit worried about you, when we got separated. The Second Lieutenant sent me to come get you and regroup with them back at the town center. Who's that you got there?"

"A pony I rescued." Zoe answered before turning to the little mare in question. "Speaking of whom, I don't know her name. Hello there little one, we haven't been properly introduced, I am Cadet Battle Mage Zoe."

"I-I'm Silver Spoon miss." The gray mare answered with eyes reddened from tears. "W-what are you creatures?"

"Humans from Atlantis." The floating Assault Mage replied. "We are here to rescue and provide relief for Equestria. And let me tell you Zoe, we are doing a lot of rescuing. There is a whole lot of ponies back at the town center being given medical aid, not nearly as much as I expected, but still… we should get going Zoe, we can continue this inside and not on a battlefield."

"Agreed." Zoe said before sheathing her sword and holding Silver Spoon in both of her arms.

"Alright then." The mage said before darting to the end of the street. "This way, it's only a few more blocks to the command center."

Zoe began running again, and this time she did not meet another group of pirates. The damage the town had suffered was pretty severe; many buildings had collapsed or were on fire, and some had 'sunken' Astral ships crashed on top them. Bodies lined the streets, almost all of them pirates, which surprised Zoe; she expected more civilian deaths. But then again, if she recalled what a pirate had said earlier, there may have been another reason for the lack of pony bodies…

It wasn't long before Zoe had turned a corner and saw she had arrived at the town center. The town square was filled with cots, ponies, and mages standing guard amongst them and on the roofs around them. The town hall itself had multiple mages on the upper balcony. Through one of the upper windows of the building Zoe caught sight of Major Cobalt. Her squad mates were over to the side talking about something with her squad leader.

Zoe made her way into the town square to find an empty cot for the filly in her arms.

"Ma'am, she's gone!" A Warmage tried to tell a hysterical gray pegasus with a blond mane and bubbles on her flank. "There is absolutely nothing you or I can do!" A mage behind him moved a small body, covered with a blood soaked blanket, into a body bag. Finally the mage seemed to have realized the pegasus in front of him was not going to calm down, he motioned for a mage, who darted forward and grabbed the pegasus from behind. He placed his hand over her mouth, pulled her until she was on her hind legs, and jabbed a needle into her neck. The pegasus went still before becoming limp; the mage picked her up and placed her on a cot, shaking his head sadly.

"Strange…" Zoe heard a Warmage say.

"What?" Asked another.

"Notice how none of these ponies have any ear damage?" Replied the first.

"Hey yeah, that is really odd."

"And notice how you can't hear the Melody's guns."

"What are you talking about?" The second asked in confusion. "I can hear them plain as day…"

"Yes, because I told you to listen for them." Answered the first. "Do you remember hearing them when we first arrived?"

"…No, wow this place is weird."

"Indeed."

A little pink unicorn with three pink diamonds on her flank sat with an intensely worried expression on her face. She was sitting beside a cot holding a pink earth pony with an image of grapes and a strawberry on her flank. The mare in the cot was sleeping, and had a freshly stitched gash that ran down the right side of her face. The gash seemed to have damaged her eye as she had a medical patch over it.

Finally, Zoe found an empty cot that looked like it wasn't going to be used by someone who needed it. She placed Silver Spoon in the cot and kneeled beside her.

"You'll be safe here." Zoe whispered softly. "All these Warmages will protect you and look after you. They will not let anything happen to you; goodbye I'll see you again soon." Zoe was about to get up when…

"Wait!" Silver reached out with her hoof. "J-just wait a moment please. Could you stay with me for a couple minutes, please?"

Zoe smiled at the little filly and kneeled back down. She could stay here as long as her CO allowed her after all. She reached over and wrapped Silver Spoon in a tight hug and Silver started to cry softly. Zoe stroked her mane and smiled sadly, the Battle Mage was lucky after all, her parents were rebuilt and revived; Silver's would not have the same chance.

In the distance, the sound of cannon fire became incredibly loud for a moment before returning to its usual volume.

**-with Celestia aboard the Melody-**

Celestia ground her teeth in barely restrained outrage as she watched the devastation her people and land were suffering. The five mares with her were off to the side and ignoring the screens to the best of their ability. Fluttershy sat beside the unconscious form of Applejack; she stroked the cowpony's mane while she whimpered in her sleep, seemingly having a bad nightmare. Applejack had started to panic earlier when a frigate that was shot down had crashed into her orchards, just barely missing her family's farmhouse. She wouldn't calm down and was proving to be a distraction, so she had been sedated.

The Alicorn sat and continued to resolutely watch the war happening over and in her lands. It felt like horrible torture to just sit here and simply watch, as other people did the work of helping her people. But the Atlanteans had far more experience with fighting wars than she or her guard ponies did, they would be able to handle things far better if she did not interfere… at least that's what she told herself.

Celestia's eyes widened as a massive Ship of the Line appeared on the screens. She sat in silent horror as the ship turned and unleashed its firepower on Canterlot. Her heart pounded as she struggled to keep control of herself, but a call on the coms destroyed any semblance of that.

"Captain Sparkly, do you read!" She heard a voice over the coms shout. "Captain Sparkly! Captain, do you read!"

That was all she could take. Celestia's form glowed white as she gathered her magic to teleport to her palace, and locked in on Erika. Her student needed help, and she would be damned if she didn't give it.

"Damn it." Alexandria cursed as the Sun Princess teleported in a flash. "Whatever, she's the Captain's problem now."

"I want as many air units as can be spared without jeopardizing the ground ops on that ship!" Alexandria ordered. "And focus fire on it with our own guns as well! I want that thing brought down!"

"Aye aye ma'am!"

**-with Erika back in Canterlot-**

Erika's mind was a maelstrom of conflict and emotion, the fact she was being crushed under some heavy masonry was not helping at all. Eventually, her armor decided that her mental state was not appropriate for combat, and injected a drug into her neck. Erika sighed as she felt the potent drug rush though her head and calm her.

Now in a calm state, Erika took stock of where she was. She was completely covered by rubble from the collapsed ceiling and guessed the amount of weight on her was roughly seven hundred pounds. With a small grunt of exertion, Erika pushed herself up and shoved the masonry off herself.

Now out, and covered in white dust, she looked around. Her mages were all fine and getting out from rubble that had fallen on them, or helping others who were a bit more buried and having trouble.

"Captain!" Jasmine called as she approached. "I saw you freeze up, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Jasmine." Erika replied. "Just my memories being useless baggage right now. I got injected with some drugs, I should be fine now."

"Ma'am's!" Jacobs shouted. "Detecting an unknown teleport aimed on us! Right there in the middle of the hall!"

"Go, go, go!" Erika shouted. "Take positions!"

In a flash of white light, Celestia appeared in the middle of the hall. Her eyes went wide at the sudden danger she found herself in. The five Battle Mages had their swords mere inches from her face, and the Assault Mages were in the air behind them ready rain deadly magics on her,

"…Ummm…" Celestia started unsurely.

"I told you to stay on the ship!" Erika said in an exasperated groan as her mages withdrew their weapons. "What could have possibly warranted you coming down here and nearly getting yourself killed by friendly fire?"

"I was worried about you Erika." Celestia replied with a small frown. "I heard somep-someone try to call you after the… attack. But you didn't reply and I came to help you."

"You want to help? Next time, design your castle for function rather than aesthetics, maybe then people won't get hit in the head with overly fancy rocks." Erika responded harshly as she shook her head, and then she turned to Jasmine. "Jasmine, how are the other squads doing?"

Jasmine raised a hand to her head as she stood in her fully deployed Jotun armor. "Not good ma'am. They are all getting bogged down from Astral troops in other parts of the castle. It's probably going to take us twenty minutes to sweep this entire place of them and find Princess Luna."

"I could help you in this." Celestia broke in suddenly, trying to ignore the hurt Erika's words caused her. "I could lead you to the throne room quickly, I know this place far better then you ever did."

"…Fine." Erika agreed reluctantly. "Any fights we get in though, you stay out of them. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Celestia answered and began to lead them down the hall.

**-with Captain Alexandria-**

"What is the status of the enemy capital ship?" Captain Alexandria asked. "Have the air units made any progress on it?"

"No ma'am." A technician replied. "Air units are hammering it, but their attacks are having little to no effect on the hull. The Melody's guns however are doing damage, but it's far too little. We're blowing small holes in it but we aren't doing anything major or crippling."

"No choice then." The Melody's captain replied. "What is the condition of the Alpha-Omega Cannon?"

"In pristine condition and fully charged, ready for firing sequence." A technician replied. "Are… are we going to fire it ma'am?"

"Yes we are." Alexandria answered as she placed her hand on a hologram that analyzed her prints and DNA. "Prepare yourselves."

"Yes ma'am!"

The Sadistic Melody began turning in place. It turned until a conspicuous patch of armor plating was exposed towards the Astral capital ship. The plating split down the middle and slid to the sides, revealing the barrel of a massive gun with many tubes attached to the sides.

The Alpha-Omega Cannon, named for the very energy it utilizes when it fires. A spark is all that is needed to create the tiniest fraction of it, and the tiniest fraction is all that the cannon itself can take. For, despite the fact the cannon is made of experimental nanotubes reinforced by magic, it can only take but a fraction of the explosive potential that is the big bang itself.

Gunfire from the energy intensive weapons of the Melody stopped as the tubing attached to the side of the Alpha-Omega Cannon glowed bright yellow. The energy being fed into the cannon all gathered at one point at the very base of the barrel. The power core of the Melody itself strained and began to redline as the cannon soaked up more and more energy. Finally, the energy was deemed enough and released through four spark plugs the size of a pinky. There were four sparks meeting in a ball of golden energy as big as a grape.

A moment later everyone's ears popped and oppressive silence ruled supreme. The next, it seemed like Celestia's sun itself had been blinded.

**-with Erika in Canterlot-**

Erika looked at the corpse of a pegasus guard pony dispassionately. They had been encountering the bodies of the dead palace guards for several minutes now. The number of guard pony bodies had been steadily increasing as they went, so it seemed they were heading the right direction. They had apparently given a good fight though, for every one corpse they found, there were at least five dead pirates nearby.

Encountering the bodies of the palace guards had a strong effect on the Sun Princess. When they found the first one, Celestia had stood shocked and horrified, and it only grew worse for her as they continued to find more. However, Celestia had been crying silently ever since they had found the butchered body of a palace maid, though the pirates who had set up a cooking pot nearby had been almost instantly flash fried by the enraged Sun Goddess.

_'She… she certainly cares for her subjects.'_ Erika thought to herself. _'Definitely not like most nobles I've ever seen…'_

Suddenly, Erika's ears popped and everything went silent. She turned to her mages and saw them all tapping the sides of their heads, wondering if they had an equipment malfunction, and Celestia was twitching her ears in agitation. Erika wondered what had happened when the answer came an instant later.

The light pouring through the windows became eye searing bright and the world silently shook like it a major earthquake was hitting the area. Then like it had never happened, the shaking stopped and the light faded. Hearing returned with another pop a moment later.

"This is Captain Sparkly, what the hell happened?" Erika shouted into her coms.

"That was the AO Cannon, the enemy capital ship has been neutralized." Richard answered evenly. "The Astral Tear is also dissipating, and I think a vast majority of the enemy fleet is now free floating atoms."

"Oh…" That was the first time she had experienced the AO Cannon being fired, Erika had to admit it was pretty intense.

"Wha-what in the world was that?" Celestia asked Erika.

"That was the Alpha-Omega Cannon being fired." Erika answered. "It is a very recent addition to the Atlantean arsenal. Has a very large cool down period, but as you can probably tell, it's worth it."

"Now we should get moving and secure your sister. Who knows what the Astral's response will be to the loss of their source of reinforcements."

"Of course, come it's this way!" Celestia shouted as she peeled away. "Hurry, we are very nearly there!"

Celestia was right, as they entered the very next hall, they could hear sounds of fighting. The sounds came from a pair of double doors that had been torn off their hinges and laid on the carpet.

"Prepare for mixed melee!" Erika shouted as she trotted towards the door. The Battle Mages in the group began shrinking down as they moved, they came down to a height of six feet, their swords resizing with them. Erika turned though the door and quickly took in the scene.

Princess Luna was untouched, but unconscious at the base of the throne. She was surrounded by her night guard along with a white coated unicorn wearing a suit of purple armor, who bared their teeth at their attackers. A large group of pirates surrounded the royal guard, jeering and waving their swords at them mockingly. On the floor laid dozens of dead pirates who were killed by wing slashes, hoof strikes, and bursts of unicorn magic.

Erika was quickly in the air over the pirates, and began a strafing run of spark bolts as her head tingled at the sight of the purpled armored unicorn. Erika's Battle Mages were among the pirates as they were distracted by her sudden attack. They slashed and cut their way through the small pirate horde; a few pirates tried to match the mages in swordplay, but ended up with a bisected cutlass, which was quickly followed by a bisected torso. The fight quickly ended when the Assault Mages let loose bursts of flames, the fire flowed over the Battle Mages with no ill effect, but incinerated or ignited the pirates. Erika's mages quickly set about putting the Astrals that were still alive out of their misery, and securing the room. Erika set down in front of the Royal Guard as they took up more relaxed stances, but were still prepared to spring back into combat.

The white unicorn in purple armor took up position at the very front of the guards. He was very obviously exhausted, both physically and mentally, but stood resolute to deal with these strangers in his princess' throne room, ready to fight them even if they had effortlessly killed the horde they had been struggling with. He opened his mouth to speak when Celestia dashed into the room, called out her sister's name, and ran to her.

"Luna, wake up! What happened to her?" She asked one of Luna's Night Guard.

"She was trying to keep the shield up, but those flying ships kept firing at it." The guard panted while he explained. "She exhausted herself and we have been protecting her since."

"Ohhh Luna… my poor sister." Celestia said as she reached out to the unconscious Moon Alicorn. "I never meant for this to happen to you…"

"I assume that since Princess Celestia arrived with you, you are here to help us?" The white unicorn asked as he watched the guards begin to fall over in exhaustion.

"You assume correctly." Erika said as her head tingled ever stronger, the unicorn's eyes widened in shock at Erika's voice.

"Twilight?" He said in surprise.

The tingling grew to unbearable levels as memories of playing with an older brother named Shining Armor entered the mind of Erika, then it faded.

"Shining… Armor?" Erika asked with hesitation.

"Twiley, what in the world happened to you?" The last thing Shining Armor had heard of his sister was that she had been a victim of a teleport during the Discord incident. That was over a month ago, now she was back, but she was throwing around the most lethal spells he had ever seen, wearing powerful looking armor, and… killing. It was the last thing that was bothering the Captain of the Guard the most.

"Armor I..." Erika began.

"Attention to all units!" Alexandria's voice sounded over the coms. "This is a warning to all units! The Astral Lord has not been encountered yet! I repeat the Astral Lord has not been encountered!"

"Oh that's not good." Erika commented.

"What?" Armor asked his sister.

As if to answer Shining Armor's question, everyone began hearing a strange sound that should not be present in a battle field, music. The sound of a ukulele, an accordion, and a violin playing a song that would not have been out of place in a pirate movie. The song came from all around them yet nowhere simultaneously.

There was a sudden explosion of rock and stone, Erika felt something hit her in the jaw, and was sent flying across the room. She hit Shining Armor in the head, and sent him to the ground in a daze, before crashing into the throne in a cloud of dust.

"Arrr har har har!" A pirate laughed as he wringed out the hand he used to punch Erika. The music became louder as he took up a pose with his flintlock pistol and his cutlass. This pirate had a tricorn and wore a clean brown long coat; he had perfect looking stubble that seemed to be cut just short enough, and had just enough space between each hair to give a roguish look. He had a cheerful smile on his face and his eyes twinkled playfully as he stood in front of the hole he made in the wall.

"My name be Captain Peach Fuzz the Pirate." Peach Fuzz proclaimed proudly. "And I be an Astral Lord."

Out of the rubble of the throne, Erika reappeared. Celestia gasped in horror at the sight of her student, Erika was missing both the armor where her jaw was, and the jaw itself. Erika just stood there as her mutilation bled onto the ground, before purple electricity started to arc around her wound. It started slowly, bone grew out of torn flesh and formed her jaw, and flesh extended and knitted together over the bone, then finally, a violet coat grew over the jaw along with her teeth re-growing in her mouth. Erika worked her regrown mouth, with the sound of bones creaking and grinding against each other, before frowning at the Astral Lord.

"Oh ye be a tough one." Peach Fuzz announced with a laugh. "Arrr har har har, let's have at it!"

That was all the encouragement the mages needed. The tempo of the music increased as Jacobs and Jasmine charged the Astral Lord. Peach Fuzz delivered a lightning fast slash to Jacobs, shredding his diamond hard armor like so much tinfoil with a pig iron blade. The Astral Lord sidestepped Jasmine's lunge as Jacobs fell, and gave the squad leader a punch to her helmeted face. Jasmine recoiled from the Astral Lord as she grasped at her helmet; the metal had warped from the blow and was now crushing her face. Peach Fuzz kicked the vulnerable mage in the gut and sent her into, and through, a wall.

Emily darted over the pirate and let loose a powerful bolt of green lightning at him. The Astral brought up his cutlass and 'caught' the bolt with it. He swung his blade like a bat and sent the bolt back at her, Emily could not dodge the bolt in time and writhed in the air as the energy surged through her and caused her to crash into a wall.

Two more Battle Mages charged at the Astral Lord with two Assault Mages providing support. The mages engaged the Astral in a blurring melee, but soon the pirate gained the upper hand and had one of the mages in a head lock. Peach Fuzz lashed out with a kick to the other Battle Mage, sending him through another wall with a crushed chest plate, and pulled out his flint lock and fired at an Assault Mage. The tiny ball of lead pierced the nanotube armor of the mage and buried itself in his stomach. The other Assault Mage fired a sky blue orb of energy as his squad mate collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach. Peach Fuzz brought up his captive mage and used him as a shield; the orb hit the mage and exploded. The attack was mostly absorbed by the mage's armor; Peach Fuzz threw his captive into the air and kicked him so he impacted the Assault mage with crushing force.

The Astral Lord twirled around the Battle Mage that tried to impale him from behind. He quickly gave a crushing kick to the mages stomach and hit him over the head with the pommel of his sword when the mage keeled over, smashing him into the ground. Before the last two Assault Mages could react, Peach Fuzz drew a bomb with a burning fuse from his coat and threw it at them. The bomb exploded midair en-route to the mages, but instead of fire, more bombs appeared out of the smoke. The mini bombs rained over the two mages and began exploding; when the smoke cleared the mages were on the ground, with bloody tears all over their armor.

Peach Fuzz the Astral Lord pirate gave a big toothy smile as he took in his efforts. His reverie was cut short when he turned around and began rapidly blocking and deflecting balls of sparkling, violet lights. He grunted when Erika blurred forward and rammed him in the stomach. Peach Fuzz leapt into the air before Erika could fire a bolt into his gut and landed a few feet away. He brought up his cutlass to block an armored hoof wreathed in violet electricity as the unicorn flew at him. The Atlantean unicorn back flipped midair and landed two blows with her back legs on the Astral Lord's jaw. He recoiled back a few steps and Erika tried to press her advantage.

Peach Fuzz side stepped her charge, and lashed out with a kick as she passed. Erika gritted her teeth in pain as she felt her armor collapse inwards and start to crush her chest. The Astral managed to grab a hold of Erika's back leg and brought her up. While holding her in the air, Peach Fuzz brought back his arm and smashed her in the face with the hand guard of his cutlass, sending Erika skidding across the floor before coming to a stop beside her dazed brother. With the final combatant down, the music began to rise to a victorious crescendo.

Peach Fuzz drew his hand over his brow at a day's hard work when white magic began enveloping his form.

"You will not harm anypony anymore!" Celestia shouted with a reverberating voice and eyes glowing with power.

Peach Fuzz arched an eyebrow and tilted his head at her. He carefully sheathed his cutlass before darting a hand to his coat, and sending something flying towards the angry Alicorn.

"Gaaah!" Celestia shouted as the pommel of a dagger impacted her head, making her lose concentration and close her eyes. When she opened them, the first thing she saw was the fist of the Astral Lord impacting her muzzle.

Dozens of blood vessels in Celestia's nose burst and their fluids poured forth. Peach Fuzz grabbed Celestia by the neck, lifted her up, and punched her in the face, sending blood flying and causing something to snap in her muzzle. He brought his fist back in a brutal back hand that sent some of the Sun Goddess' teeth flying. Peach Fuzz adjusted his grip on the Sun Princess as she drifted in and out of consciousness, and held her up by her horn.

"This one be going on me mantle!" The Astral Pirate said as he drew his Cutlass.

Erika's eyes snapped open upon hearing this. A painful surge of memories flooded into her mind, Erika thought of the times she drank hot chocolate with Celestia on cold winter nights, of times she spent having relaxing walks with her in the gardens, of times she spent under the Alicorn's tutelage, of times when she was scared of a nightmare and the Princess would come calm and sooth her, of times she would play board games with her and Spike, of times she her given her rides as she soared through the skies. The crushed armor popped back into place and Erika leapt to her feet. She growled as she saw her teacher in the hands of the Astral Lord. Erika felt so angry that it was like she had suddenly burst into flames.

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Erika screamed in rage as she blurred into a charge.

Despite the warning he got in the form of Erika's enraged scream, Peach Fuzz only had enough time to turn his head before he felt an armored horn stab into him.

Peach Fuzz pushed himself off of Erika's horn only to get clocked in the face with a hoof wreathed in purple flame. He tried to parry Erika's berserker strikes, but her body was coalescing with both violet flames and electricity. The flames would leap from her and scorch him, or an arc would hit him and electrocute him. Erika's hoof strikes had become incredibly fast as well as far stronger, whenever Peach Fuzz blocked one with his Cutlass, he would feel it vibrate and even bend under the blows.

Erika suddenly reared up and brought her forelegs crashing down onto the floor with a loud bang. Her form shined like a star as she arced with ever higher voltages. A massive bolt of violet lightning leapt from Erika to the Astral Lord.

Peach Fuzz brought up his cutlass to try to catch it. The bolt struck his blade, but it seemed like it was far too much for the blade to handle, as it turned bright red and arced towards him dangerously. He swung his blade towards a wall and discharged the energy, causing an entire section to collapse.

The Astral Pirate turned and tried to block a sudden blow. It was Jacobs, the tear in his chest had stopped bleeding, and he had gotten up to have another go at the Astral Lord. Jacobs' runed blade met the pirate's red hot cutlass. The cutlass shattered into fragments, some flying and burying themselves into Peach Fuzz, and Jacobs' blade continued its arc, giving the Astral Lord a deep slash across the chest.

Peach Fuzz recoiled from the slash and was hit by an explosive orb of violet magic, it sent him flying until he impacted a wall and fell to the ground. The recovering mages of Erika's favored squad rushed him and began assaulting his prone form. The Battle Mages cut into him and sent blood flying, while the Assault Mages poured flames from their palms at point blank. When the music came to a dead stop, the mages stopped their attack.

"Thi-this I-is Cap-Captain Sparkly, we have br-brought down the As-Astral Lord." Erika said as she panted in exertion. "Re-requesting med-medical atten-attention."

"Right away Sparkly!" Captain Alexandria answered. "That would be the second Astral Lord you brought down, good work!"

"Tha-thank you ma'am." Erika replied tiredly. "Captain Sparkly out."

Behind Erika Celestia got up on shaky legs and wobbled over to her.

"Is it over?" Celestia sniffed her bloody and shattered nose. "Is this nightmare finally over?"

Erika walked over to an opening in the wall and looked outside. The skies were overcast with black storm clouds, Astral ships still sailed, but not with the huge numbers they had before. Erika could see flashes of spell fire from parts of the castle and the city itself, where the battle still raged. Beyond the landscape torn apart by the crashing remains of countless ships, Erika could see more spell fire from the companies that were busy trying to clear the fields and save the villages they could reach. She shook her head and turned to Celestia.

"No, we are only about half way done." Erika sighed and leaned against a broken wall.

Celestia wobbled forward and stood next to Erika. She extended a wing and placed it over the tired Warmage. Erika did not resist the embrace, and instead, she leaned into it and took what comfort she could and thought of the past, and not of the hellish present.

_'I'll have work to do later.'_ Erika thought to herself. _'But not right now, right now I'll stay right here… thank you your highness…'_


	13. Chapter 10 : Aftermath

It was noon of the next day; however no one would be able to tell just by looking. The sun was blocked out by thick black storm clouds that rained, not heavily, but steadily, with the occasional rumble of thunder. The clouds remained defiant in the sky since the death of the Astral Lord the day before. Normally, the pegasi of Cloudsdale would be hard at work putting the clouds back to order, but Cloudsdale had been annihilated and its population scattered to the four winds in panic and fear. No doubt they would return to their jobs soon, but their first concern was their friends and family, as well as reconstructing their town made of clouds.

Celestia stood in the destroyed remains of her throne room; her face was heavily bruised and wrapped in bandages. She looked over her devastated kingdom through a collapsed wall. Ships roamed the angry skies, but they were not Astral ships. The Atlanteans had sent reinforcements in the form of patrol ships the size of Ponyville, they moved about the sky with spotlights along their base, searching the ground for more Astrals, and the rare ship that hidhiding in the clouds. The pirates were apparently giving the sensors aboard the ships trouble locating them, as they hid in the maze of wrecked sail ships that covered the land.

_'So many dead…'_ Celestia thought to herself, she had seen the many black bags that filled the city square; she could even hear the mourning wails from herethe palace. _'Most of the city is destroyed, the farmlands are crushed beneath sunken Astral ships or burned, entire villages sacked, and their populations…'_

The sound of hooves clacking on stone tile and splashing in puddles approached the ruined throne room's doors. Princess Luna peered through the door way and saw Celestia sitting in front of an opening in the wall, her mane and body soaked with rain. Luna trotted forward quickly and came to a stop where there was still a roof to keep the rain off.

"Tia, what are you doing?" Luna asked her sister. "Get out of the rain, your bandages are soaked!"

"I'm mourning my dead people Luna…" Celestia said as tears mingled with droplets of rainwater on her face. "I want you to know this is not your fault Luna. It is entirely mine and mine alone."

"How, how is it your fault?" Luna yelled distraughtly. "Not even five minutes after you leave and the kingdom is under attack. I-I couldn't do anything, I tried with all my might yet all I did was tire myself out and leave the defense to the guard. And almost all of them are dead for it…"

"Luna, my dear sister, listen to me." Celestia came out of the rain to stand beside her guilt ridden sister. "You did all you could, and I doubt if both of us had been here, we could have done any better." Celestia recalled how fast she had fallen to the Astral Lord's blows, if anything their godly might may have allowed them to beat back the ships, but the Astral Lord himself? No, they would have been killed, and probably put into stew pots, within moments of his arrival. Erika was right, she may be a god and the thousand years of peace she had cultivated was a wonderful thing, but the skills she had developed in the wilds had withered away to nothing because of it.

"And it is my fault Luna." Celestia said sadly. "It was during the spell that sent us across the multi-verse. Half way through, we suddenly stopped and it felt like I was being held by… something and being watched by countless eyes. I now know that it what madewas the Astral Lords aware ofdiscovering our home. It was there that I condemned our people to _this_." Celestia waved a wing to the devastated expanse of Equestria through the wall.

"I-it doesn't sound like it was your fault Tia..." Luna said, trying to comfort her older sister.

"No? Is it an unfortunate consequence of my actions?" Celestia sighed and extended a dripping wet wing over her sister. Luna ignored the wetness and simply took what comfort was offered in her sister's embrace.

The two Alicorn sisters stayed in that position for several moments, content with the silence and each other's presence. A roar of gunfire shook the sisters out of their peace. Celestia and Luna turned in time to see a sailed ship fall to the earth, in flaming pieces, from the clouds. They watched in silence as the pieces crashed on top of a pile of destroyed Astral Ships. The Atlantean ship that shot it down swung its lights over the wreckage, searching it for survivors. Eventually, the lights moved away and began to sweep across the land once more.

"…Tia, is this not what your student does now?" Luna asked after watching the destruction.

"What do you mean sister?"

"All this death and destruction." Luna explained. "Is this not what she does in her daily life now? I personally feel that you did not succeed in your goal, and brought back an entirely different and… disturbing mare, who just happens to look like your student."

Celestia sighed at Luna's words. "As much as I wish to dispute what you say, I can't help but agree with you. I watched her jaw get torn off, and she just reformed it as if that was a common occurrence. The unicorn that grew up in these walls and by my side seems to be no more, but…" Celestia looked up at the storm clouds that churned above and gave a melancholy smile. "I can't help but feel that part of her lives on. You should have seen her Luna, I barely did through my daze, but I know the kind of anger she displayed, it was the kind one would feel when those they care for are in danger." Celestia knew this from experience, mostly towards herself whenever she looked in the mirror after the Discord incident. "Erika's anger was no different… although it was far more violent and intense. Her name and personality may not be the same, but the chance to regain what was lost is there" The Sun Princess smiled hopefully at her sister.

"Where would 'Erika' be now?" Luna asked.

Celestia grimaced as she glanced at the tall columns of foul smelling smoke rising from bonfires among the ship wrecks.

"She is… fulfilling her duty."

**-with Erika among the shipwrecks-**

Erika inhaled deeply through her recently repaired helm. The air was as fresh as an ocean breeze, and carried a minty scent that made the nostrils flare slightly with a freezing sensation. Erika then ordered her helm to retract into her armor.

Immediately, she was assaulted with foul odors. The smell of flesh that was beginning to rot in the wet and humid conditions mixed with the smell of bowels released upon death. This, combined with the smell of burning flesh and fecal matter attached an awful scent, complete with unfortunate after taste, to everything caught in its miasma. This was the smell of a won battle, Erika had long since grown used to such things and accepted them as part of her life.

The Atlantean unicorn sat staring as the mages of her favored squad worked to pile corpses onto an ever growing bonfire. The blazing pile itself was at least thirty feet tall and occupied an eighty foot radius, the supply of bodies continued to flow and even picked up every now and then.

"Damned weather!" One of Erika's Assault Mages, a man named Keitaro, cursed as he sent a blaze of cyan fire at the dying bonfire. "It never stops raining, not heavily either, but enough to soak and make everything a pain." Keitaro complained as he levitated a dozen corpses and dropped them off atop the bonfire.

"This world feels so magical, almost on par with Atlantis itself, and it got that way because of the First Generation." Jasmine commented as her helmet retracted. "Perhaps this world is sentient to some extent because of it. Maybe this constant rain is its form of crying for the suffering the locals have just gone through?"

Erika and Jacobs, who stood to Erika's other side, stared at the raven haired Second Lieutenant for a moment.

"…Emo."

"Shut up Jacobs." Jasmine retorted.

"Yes ma'am."

"You know, this is actually the first time I've ever been deployed against an Astral Lord invasion." Jasmine continued. "I honestly did not expect the Astral Lords to be like that, he was as powerful as I thought he'd be, but he and his forces were a bit… odd."

"The Astral Lords never seem to realize that there is a thing called moderation." Erika replied. "They always take ideas and themes to the ridiculous extremes. Just be glad it wasn't the Loli Courts that were attacking this place."

"Wait, Loli? You mean as in little girls?" Jasmine asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it seems funny and utterly harmless doesn't it." Jacobs said tonelessly. "An invading army of Astral troops made up entirely of adorable little girls, with floating, fairy princess type castles for air support. The very idea of such a thing is such a big laugh isn't it? But then you realize, it's an army of innocent little girls being led by an Astral Lord who has probably made itself look like the stereotypical fairy princess… and you have to kill every single one of them. It doesn't matter that they didn't exist before the Astral called them into being, doesn't matter that they look like little girls who are enjoying a game of make believe, the only thing that does matter is that they are a threat, and your job is to kill every single one of them." Jacobs seemed to be staring intensely at the bonfire before him, the flames glinting on the surface of his helm. "…I would have done anything to have been burning pirate bodies instead of…"

Erika's wings snapped out and began to hum lightly. She lifted off into the air until she was at shoulder height with Jacobs. Raising an armored hoof, she placed it on the forlorn Battle Mage's shoulder, who nodded his head in thanks at the gesture. Jasmine looked off into the distance with a carefully blank expression as she thought of what the trauma of being forced to kill small children by the thousands would do to her.

Erika settled back onto the ground and her wings snapped back into her armor. She stared into the flames and the corpses slowly being turned to ash in the wind. The unicorn mage admitted to herself that this was a particularly revolting affair, but it was better than what the platoon in the city had to do. Erika glanced back at the devastated capital of Equestria, she definitely did not envy her troops having to dig out pony bodies and, with the help of civilians, identify them. She could just imagine the headache she would get from the civilians wailing in her ears, granted, she understood why they would be wailing, but she still would not like the headache. Yes, what she was doing now was distasteful, but at least she did not have to deal with people crying over their dead mothers, sons, brothers…

Erika's mind began to tingle as she thought of sons and brothers. An egg came to mind, it was purple and had dots that were a darker shade of purple. Erika began to wonder at the significance of the egg when a crack appeared. The egg was soon spider webbed with crackscracks began to spider web across the surface, and soon enough, what was inside burst through the weakened shell. It appeared to be some sort of vaguely humanoid lizard with strange color patterns, purple scales, and green ridges.

Erika found herself wondering what sort of environment would have a local species evolve to spawn with such eye catching colors, when a realization struck her. This lizard was some sort of wingless dragon and its- HIS name was Spike.

_'How do I know that? Is it my old life's memories acting up again?_' Erika thought to herself. _'Spike… that name has come up several times before. But what is the significance of it? Is 'Spike' someone important to me? Is Spike the newborn dragon in my memory?'_

More memories of the baby dragon flowed smoothly into Erika's mind. Taking care of him and teaching him how to talk, having him help out as her assistant during her years in Canterlot and beyond, him riding on her back as she arrived in Ponyville, the rather cute crush he developed on her friend Rarity, leaving him at home when she to face Discord on that fateful day… back home… in Ponyville…

Erika's breath began to quicken as worry ate away at her professionalism. _'Spike, h-he could be in danger! Dear Celestia, he could be… No! He can't be, I won't allow it!'_ Erika's indigent rage overpowered the worry that was rising in her, . someone Someone that she considered family was in danger and no one raised by Ezekiel would take that lying down. Hell, Ezekiel himself had declared war a few times because of a particular fowl insult or threat made towards his family.

"Jasmine!" Erika suddenly barked, startling the Battle Mage who was right next to her. "I have something important to check up on in Ponyville. You are in charge while I'm gone!"

"Yes… ma'am?" Jasmine answered in confusion as Erika bolted away between the towering ship wrecks surrounding the bonfire.

Erika galloped through the wreckages that filled the country side around Canterlot. She could have flown, but as an Assault Mage she was trained for maneuverability, rather than speed, for flight, as an Air Mage would have been. Her skills were supplemented with Battle Mage abilities however, so she was making good time running on the ground. Still, navigating the crashed remains of Astral Ships was proving to be an irritation, and time consuming.

Finally, she had made ontoarrived at the road heading into Canterlot, the road having been partially cleared the night before. Erika turned and galloped down the road from the Equestrian capital and made way to her destination. She ran for several minutes, her form a blur in motion, until she finally caught site of her goal.

It was a camp along the road. Many tents, both small and large, dotted the clearing made in the wreckage, around its perimeter were large banners depicting a Murmillo helmet with a background made entirely of flames. This was the encampment of Vinzenz's company, otherwise known as Vinzenz's Fire Brigade.

Erika slowed her galloping to a slow trot as she entered the camp. She made her way through the tents, dodging confused Warmages and support golem alike as she traveled to the camps landing zone, where the transports would be.

Erika looked to her left as she heard noise coming from a large wall-less tent in the center of a camp. Inside the tent was Vinzenz, who was in the middle of a large group of his Warmages and some ponies who were recued from nearby villages, holding a silvery metal bottle above his head. The human captain waved at the Warmages around him, urging them to shout ever louder.

"Alright rookies!" Vinzenz shouted to the mages standing in the center with him. "Here's how the Fire Brigade plays their drinking games! What I have here is a bottle of molten lava; it is currently around one thousand degrees Celsius!"

With that, Vinzenz unscrewed the top of the bottle and an orange glow burst from the opening. And, much to the shock and surprise of the ponies, he turned the bottle upside-down and aimed it towards his mouth as his helmet shifted away, revealing his tanned skin and short, slicked back hair. The lava within the bottle quickly oozed out in large droplets and landed with a hiss in the Captain's mouth. Vinzenz gulped the lava down audibly as it fell and kept going until the bottle was completely empty, even going as far as to tap the bottom of the bottle to make sure. Vinzenz shook his head and thumped his chest loudly. He suddenly released a large belch with black smoke, forming a circle, bursting from his mouth, he made another belch and a stream of smoke came forth and speared the circle through the center. The ponies cheered at Vinzenz's, and the veteran Warmages simply chuckled at their response to their showoff of a captain.

"Cool and refreshing!" Vinzenz boasted cheerfully, little plumes of black smoke coming out with every word. "Your turn mis amigos! First one to cough up chunks of stomach loses!"

The rookie mages were each handed a silvery bottle containing lava within. They uncapped the bottles and retracted their helmets into their armors. They each gave a hesitant glance at the contents of the bottles before looking at each other and shrugging their shoulders. They raised their bottles over their mouths simultaneously and began gulping down the molten rock within as the mages and equine audience watched expectantly, only the Warmages expected what happened next.

All the rookies' eyes bulged out, and their faces became cherry red, as they swallowed the magma. One of them, a lady elf, fell to her hands and knees and began hacking up black ash and chunks of volcanic rock. Two others kept themselves up by placing their hands on their knees, wheezing out smoke. The last was still standing, but his face was nearly scarlet, he seemed to be struggling to not cry out and simply vented smoke through his nose. The ponies in the group cried out at this, and a few made to go help the suffering rookies.

"Hahaha! It looks like Abigail is the loser this time!" Shouted Vinzenz merrily. "Though the rest of you aren't holding up so well either! Don't worry little ponies! It'll take a whole lot more then 'scalded' internal organs to take down a Warmage! In fact there was this one time I…"

Captain Vinzenz' voice faded away as Erika trotted past the tent and towards the LZ. A few tents later, and she came upon a clearing with several drop ships spaced around it. Erika walked up to each and looked inside, only to find their pilots not there. She trotted up to the last one, with impatience beginning to build, when she heard movement from within. Erika looked thorough the opening of the lowered ramp and saw the pilot fiddling with circuitry under an opened floor panel. The pilot looked up at Erika through the plane of opaque black glass that was the front of her helmet.

"Captain Sparkly?" The pilot said in surprise. "Do you need something ma'am?"

"Yes, I do actually." Erika let go a relieved sigh at finding a pilot. "I need you to quickly take me to Ponyville. I have business to take care of there."

"Alright ma'am, just take a seat upfront." The pilot replied with a nod. "I just need to take care of this first. It will only take a couple minutes."

Erika nodded and trotted up to the cockpit of the ship and took her seat in the copilot's chair. A minute later and there was a slam of a metal grate, and the pilot entered and took her seat. She manipulated her holographic controls for a few moments and the ship lifted into the air. Soon they were over the camp and passing over the landscape steadily towards Ponyville.

Ships wrecks were spread as far as the eye could see and the columns of smoke rising from dozens of bonfires dotted the land. Erika could spot the telltale signs of Warmages killing Astral remnants, multi-colored lights flashing from spell fire in the far distance.

Ponyville eventually came into sight and Erika swallowed nervously at it. Much of the buildings had collapsed or suffered fire damage; a few had the unfortunate luck of being crushed under a sunken ship when the Air Mages could not bring it down elsewhere. Erika took several calming breaths as the ship she was taking began to orbit the pony settlement. The pilot zeroed in on a clear LZ and began to descend towards it as another ship pulled up alongside them. The ship settled onto the ground silently alongside the one that followed it in, and Erika immediately got out from her seat and moved towards the rear. She waited impatiently for a few seconds for the pilot to lower the ramp and trotted down it, seeing the damage from the ground was definitely worse than seeing it from up above.

"Captain Sparkly!" A voice called out.

Erika turned and saw Major Cobalt walking out of the ship that landed with hers. The Major approached Erika and motioned for her to wait for him.

"Captain, how are you?" Cobalt asked her. "Walk with me."

"I'm fine sir, how was the situation in town?" Erika asked. "When you first landed I mean."

"Hell." The Major replied. "As expected, the Astral Lord knew we would come, or at the very least someone would come to these ponies' rescue." Cobalt sighed and shook his head as he and Erika walked into town. "The occupation force that was in the town was substantially weak, and took minimal effort to clear out. But as soon as we secured the town's perimeter, we were instantly swarmed. The Astral Lord had millions of his forces lying in wait on all sides of us and had them charge us after we had established some defensive measures. The two companies that were between here and Canterlot kept them from completely surrounding us, as well as ensuring that your forces in the capital were not too strained. But the way the Astral Lord deployed his forces still baffles me; an entire world at their mercy, and all the Astrals do is wipe one city off the map, and attack two others. And the city they destroyed was made of clouds, that won't even take long to rebuild."

"And the air forces?" Erika asked her superior, trying not to pay too much attention to her devastated home.

"They predictably did all right, especially considering how many of them were assigned with us." Cobalt answered. "I know that this deployment was scrounged together from whatever could be spared, but I would still love to have an hour in a sound-proof room to 'discuss' things with the commander that assigned four TACs with a single battalion." Cobalt gave an exasperated groan as his palm met his face. "We had enough air support for ten battalions, let alone just one. No offense to the fly boys, but air power is good for exactly two things in towns and cities: keeping away enemy air support, and simply leveling the settlement to remove any need for urban warfare. And only one of these things is even moderately helpful when we're trying to repel an Astral invasion from friendly territory. And then there's the matter of that fifth company. When I was told I would be commanding a battalion of Field Mages, I expected to have enough drop ships to actually deploy the entire battalion, not just four out of five companies. By the time we had enough ships back at the Melody that were repaired and ready to bring down the last company, the battle was practically over."

"It is a sorry state of affairs isn't it sir?" Erika stated as they moved passed a large wagon, being pulled through town with a bloody tarp over its contents. "Though, we have never been attacked this severely before. Even if the all of our mages are free to attack Astral forces thanks to the Golem Legions, we are still pretty stretched thin."

"We wouldn't have been strained so much here if Captain Alexandria would have let her pride go." Cobalt said as they waded through a crowd of ponies helping a family salvage their home, many ponies backed away and gave the two stares when they noticed who was walking beside Cobalt. Erika couldn't help but be annoyed when they started asking aloud since when didwhy 'Twilight' start was wearing armor. "All it would have taken was one order, ; and the golem ships would have unloaded their units, and I wouldn't have had to keep everyone so close together to keep us from getting completely surrounded and destroyed. The woman had to prove she was good enough to drive off an Astral invasion by herself though, thank the First Generation that there was only one Astral Lord or we would have been in deep shit."

"She proved capable though…" Erika looked away from her superior, finding the direction of the conversation uncomfortable.

"That she did, that she did…" Cobalt sighed just as his coms began to beep.

"This is Major Cobalt." The Major replied and stopped in the street as he answered his coms.

Erika took a look at the channel the message was coming in at on her HUD and saw it was non-vital. Seeing as there would be no harm in listening in, she did so.

She heard the clicking of mandibles and the sound of chirping before her translators kicked in. "Major, This is Captain Sammy reporting. I have…"

"YAAAARRR!" A voice suddenly interrupted on the coms.

"Shut the hell up you fucking piece of scurvy infested trash!" There was the sound of rushing flames immediately followed by agonized screaming. "DEAD GODS BE DAMNED! I just finished telling you to be quiet!"

"Ahem, are you in trouble Captain?" Cobalt asked on his end, several ponies stopped to give horrified stares at him and the sound coming from his coms before darting away.

Erika heard the sound of tearing flesh and the screaming abruptly ended. "No sir! I was just about to report having cleared the area, but it seems I need to make another sweep with my forces. The recent addition to our forces, Captain Samantha and her company, is the making the task easier, but there is still a lot of ground to cover." Sammy chirped irately.

"Good, but are you sure you are alright Captain?" Cobalt asked the insectoid being under his command. "You sound a bit… tense."

"Heh, I'm still surprised you could glean anything from my voice mammal." Sammy clicked amusedly. "It's just that after fighting Magio Savages and Techno Barbs for so many years, I've gotten used to my enemies being as serious about the fight as I am. But these… I'm sorry sir, but this is an utter embarrassment! I've never fought such an absurd force before! I can't count the amount of times I've been damn 'YAAR'ED' at in the past twenty four hours!"

"I can understand your irritation Captain, trust me." Cobalt replied with a tired sigh. "Just be thankful we didn't have to fight a court that's even worse."

"I highly doubt that there is such a court sir." Sammy chirped in response. "I should get back to sweeping the area… again, Captain Sammy out."

Major Cobalt raised his head to the sky and stared at the distant form of the Sadistic Melody, whose AO Cannon was still out and releasing huge clouds of steam, contemplatively. He shook his head and looked at Erika.

"I have to get back to the command center Captain Sparkly." Cobalt said to her. "I assume you have business in town?" He asked and received a nod. "I'll leave you to it then."

Erika watched the Major walk away and turned towards the street in front of her. She did not recognize it at all. Erika had hoped her memories would be helpful and 'tingle' some information into her mind about where to go, but so far they weren't doing anything in the least bit helpful. Erika sighed and resolved to wander until her memories kicked in, or she found her home.

Erika wandered through streets full of depressed looking ponies and Warmages on patrol. Occasionally, the sound of one of the patrol ships' guns would sound in the distance, and all the ponies would flinch and look around fearfully. The mages would keep marching, unaffected by the sound. The unicorn Warmage made her way through town impassively, despite all the strange looks she was getting, . Although, she made a point to glare down a light green unicorn with a lyre on her flank, who seemed oddly excited to see her, and didn't have much problems after that. Erika stopped when she came to an odd sight, a house that appeared to be made out of pastries and was relatively untouched, save for a few large chunks that had been roughly cut out.

Erika approached the building and heard the sound of crying from within. She walked up to the large, broken front window and peered inside. The inside looked like the lobby of some sort of bakery with a counter, display cases, and a till for orders. In front of the counter were two mares and two young ponies. Erika recognized one of the mares as her new old friend Pinkie Pie, whose mane and tail were now straight without a trace of their usual curls. She had streaks of tears running down her face and was hugging the other mare, who had a light blue coat and swirly, dark pink hair. The mare Pinkie was comforting was crying her heart out while holding a hat that once had once been white, but was now covered in dark red stains. The two young ponies, a pegasus and a unicorn, were also crying and hugging the mare holding the hat. Despite feeling that she knew the blue coated pony, Erika felt out of her depth and uncomfortable, she turned away from the building and continued down the street.

Erika walked through several streets that seemed to look exactly like the previous ones. She was about to officially declare herself lost when she saw someone she recognized. It was Applejack; she was pulling a large cart that was practically overflowing with apples down the street. The cart had a sign on the side that read 'FREE APPLES.' Ponies walked up to the cart and took what they needed, and gave their thanks to the hardworking cowpony as she continued down the street.

"Applejack!" Erika called out, feeling very glad at the sight of the Element of Honesty.

"Hey there sugercube." Applejack greeted with a weary smile.

"How are you feeling?" Erika asked the cowpony as she stepped into place next to her.

"Ah'm… very tired Erika." Applejack answered truthfully. "I haven't slept since yesterday, been having darn nightmares…"

"Oh…" Erika honestly did not know how to reply to that, or how she should comfort her old new friend. She couldn't really remember the last time she had a combat induced nightmare. "How is your family? Are they doing okay, are they alright?"

"Yeah they're all okay." Applejack replied with an infinitely thankful smile, . too Too many families had been destroyed by what happened yesterday, and she felt a little guilty at about feeling glad that hers wasn't one of them. "Big Mac brought Applebloom and Granny into the cellar. With all the excitement Granny had a… heart attack. She pulled through, when one of those Warmages jabbed her with some sort a medicine." Applejack's grateful smile slowly disappeared when the thought of mages brought up other memories.

"I heard about what happened aboard the Melody." Erika said when she noticed Applejack's expression. "I hope you areyou're not holding a grudge, they were just doing their jobs after all."

"Yeah, yeah… ah guess ah could can respect that…" Applejack had been truthful when she told Erika that she intended to stay on the ship, it would have been obvious if she was lying. As much as it galled her to let other poni-_people_ go help their home, while all she and her friends did was basically watch, she did not like the idea of being down there along with the Warmages while they fulfilled the namesake of their titles. In all the scraps she had gotten into before and after she had met her friends, never once did the thought they could be killed in a fight enter her mind. How could it? Every time they got into one, the worst injury anyone them had had was a few scrapes and bruises, and they would all be laughing and smiling about it later.

Arriving in the middle of the living nightmare that was a warzone had impacted her with a cruel reality though; not every fight is going to end with both groups alive, but aching. The impression the battlefield left on her could have faded away rather quickly, if not for Erika's slips and the Astral invasion. Erika would sometimes start to tell the Elements of Harmony a story about her time in '_The Service of Atlantis and all her Colonies._' But she would stop part way through, usually when she started to get horrified and repulsed stares from the five, but occasionally before. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had made the mistake of privately asking Erika to tell them about one of her missions in its entirety, one night in the compound. Erika left out no detail and described everything vividly; Applejack and Dash wished she hadn't. Applejack could practically see a wolf-like alien getting its throat ripped out, and the spurts of blood from the still beating heart; she could almost smell the wafting filth as _all_ the muscles in the body relaxed in death and let the bowels flow. By the time Erika was done, Dash had been off in the corner making use of the garbage can, and Applejack had felt close to joining her.

So with a pretty good idea of what to expect if she were to go down with the Warmages, Applejack felt conflicted whether or not she should. She knew it was practically her job to be Equestria's protector when it needed her, but what she would face would be an enemy that would not stop until she, or it, was dead. And the Element of Honesty was at a complete loss if she could cross that line and… kill it, before it killed her and everypony she knew.

So when she found out the decision of if she would go or not was taken out of her hooves by the Warmages, she felt glad, and disgusted with herself for feeling that way. But what could she do? It wasn't like she and her friends could bust out of the bridge, hijack the super high tech train and force their way onto a transport, right? Although that did sort sound like the sort of crazy stuff they normally got up to, if a little crazier…

That line of thinking had stopped completely when she saw the condition of her home. It didn't matter that she did not know if she could make the choice and kill, her home and her entire family had been in extreme danger and she was going down there no matter what. The first thing she did was ask nicely to be let down. Obviously that did not work, but at least she tried to be polite. Next, she tried to get her friends together and began planning a way to bust out of there. The Princess sat some distance away, preoccupied with what was happening onscreen.

Applejack asked Rarity if she could teleport them out of there, to which the glamorous unicorn replied that she did not know the spell and did not have the capacity for the distance, even if she did. Plan B had been for Fluttershy to use the Stare on some of the guards, while Dash kept the others away. Fluttershy was eager to help if it meant she could help her 'babies.' Pinkie Pie could use of her ability for randomness and simply pull out her party cannon and fire it, allowing them to escape in the ensuing chaos. As for how they would get to the hanger… Twilight was usually the one to plan these things and the cowpony was making it up as she went. The Elements of Harmony were all ready to go when several golems clanked onto the bridge and aimed their guns at the five. Applejack had felt something prick her in the neck before her world started to spin…

When Applejack had awoken from the sedative, everything was already said and done. Reinforcements had arrived from Atlantis to help fight the Astrals and the battle was already turning into a cleanup operation. Their home had already been saved. Applejack felt cheated and angry at the Warmages for simply putting her down like that, but she was more concerned with getting home to her family and her friends had much the same goal in mind.

"You're right; they were just doing their jobs." Applejack sighed. "Ah'm still peeved at them though."

"That's all I'm asking for Applejack." Erika smiled at her, then frowned as she tried to think of where her home was, she would have called in for it, but she doubted command had built database about such a trivial thing right now. "Applejack, do you know where my home is? I need to check on spike."

"WHAT?" Applejack shouted while jerking to a stop, causing an avalanche of apples to fall over her. "Oh consarn it! Ah forgot all 'bout the little green fella! It's just down that street on the first left! Ya make sure he's alright, ya hear!" Applejack shouted at Erika after she bolted upon getting directions. The cowpony hoped that Spike would be alright and turned to keep going down the street, only to find herself surrounded, by a large horde of ponies. had gathered and intended to ask Applejack about Erika…Almost immediately, they began to ask Applejack about Erika.

Erika galloped as fast as the room available in the street allowed and skidded as she made the turn around the corner. She blurred passed past ponies, buildings, and Warmages as she came into a large clearing of sorts. Erika skidded to a stop atop what looked like a large, burnt, tree stump and looked all around her for anything familiar.

_'Damn it, this is hopeless!'_ Erika thought in frustration. '_My own memories won't help when I actually need it! How the hell am I supposed to look for something that… I… don't remember…_'

Erika's memories from her old life started to finally kick in, giving her what she wanted. Erika however felt that something was intensely wrong. Her home was basically a hollowed out, but still alive, tree, and it stood out from all the other homes surrounding it. She should be seeing it, in fact she was standing right where it…

Erika looked down at the blackened stump she stood on. As dread and denial rose in her chest she pawed at the ground and uncovered a burnt book.

'_no… please no, anything but that._' Despair began to flow through Erika uncontrollably as she felt tears beginning to build.

"Ma'am?"

"Y-yes?" Erika asked the Warmage that approached her, struggling to control her voice.

"Are you looking for the inhabitant of this… uhh, building?" The Warmage asked, suddenly hesitant at seeing the sadness on the Captain's face.

Erika nodded, she couldn't trust her voice to not carry the sudden hope she felt.

"This… building caught fire during the Astral counterattack." The Warmage started to explain. "Despite the fact that the heat was enough to cook anyone close to it, one of the mages saw some movement within. He went in and came out with an unconscious reptilian being with a head injury so we-ack!" The mage was cut off as Erika flew up to head level and 'grippred' the mage's armor with her hooves, bringing their faces close together.

"WHERE IS HE?" Erika growled.

"He was brought to the Ponyville hospital!" The Warmage shouted as a crowd gather around them. "It was the first building we repaired to house the wounded! Here I'll mark out the route for you!"

Erika had her helmet redeploy. The moment the nav-route appeared on her HUD, she dropped the mage in an unceremonious heap and ran as fast as she could.

**-soon after in the Ponyville hospital-**

"How is he?" Erika asked Nurse Redheart impatiently. They were just outside the room Spike was in. Erika had almost barged right into the hospital, but she had managed to regain some control over herself. The last thing she wanted was to create even more of a disturbance by causing havoc in a hospital of all places; however, this did not change the fact that she was still very agitated.

"W-well he had a skull fracture and some swelling, but that was quickly taken care of." Redheart answered nervously. Normally she was a pony that didn't intimidate easily, but the recent events and the fact she was being stared at by an armored pony through an emotionless visor were not normal circumstances. "He is completely fine and should be up and about by tomorrow at least. Right now though, he is sleeping."

"I'm going in." Erika stated and moved toward the door.

"Wait!" Nurse Redheart raised a hoof. "Only family are allowed to visit a patien-"

Erika simply retracted her helmet and glared at Redheart before entering the room.

"Twilight?" Redheart asked in shock as the door closed in her face.

Erika ignored the irritation at being called Twilight and walked over to the bed Spike occupied. He was tucked snugly under a blanket and his head was wrapped in fresh bandages. He slept quietly and serenely in the small hospital bed, his nose whistling slightly with each breath. Erika stood beside the bed and simply looked at the little dragon.

'_Spike, I'm glad you're okay._' Erika thought to herself. '_But… what do you mean to me? I've had you since I was just a small girl in this world and you've been with me your entire life. What do you see me as, an older sister perhaps, or maybe a… a mother?_'

Erika sighed and looked out the window at the dissolute sight beyond. The sky roiled with black thunder clouds as rain continued to fall ever persistently. Patrol ships flew through the air with their search lights combing the ground for Astrals with painstaking slowness.

'_A mother, me?_' Erika thought with a disbelieving smile. '_Well… why not? I'm forty seven, more than old enough for such a responsibility. And if my past life is to be believed, I was taking care of him before I was even old enough to take care of myself. But… why should I though?'_

As much as Erika hated thinking it, it had to be asked. _'Who am I to decide that I'm the one to take him in and raise him? He's what, fourteen years old? I'm sure I could bring him to Fluttershy or even Applejack and they'll they'd take good care of him. After all, am I really the right sort of person to be taking care of someone? I'm always going somewhere else; he would never be able to settle down for long before he had to move again. Not to mention the situations where I would have to leave him with someone to take care of him because where I'm going would be too dangerous.'_

"Twi…Twilight…" Spike murmured in his drug induced sleep.

"I… I'm here Spike." Erika whispered and despite herself, she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the baby dragon's brow. '_That… that felt so very natural to do. Old life or not, I have barely known this little dragon and I feel so attached to him already.'_

_'I'll do it.' _Erika thought determinedly. '_I'll take care of you little Spike. If it isn't possible for you to accept me as I am now, then I'll do the right thing and send you to someone you can be comfortable living with. But if you're willing to have me as your guardian, if not your mother, then I'll put all my effort into making this work.'_ The Atlantean mage of war stared down at the baby dragon with a compassionate smile.

'_I swear it.'_

**-TBC-**

****AN: Okay people, I just want to make all of you aware of one thing. This story was already posted elsewhere, I have it on another site called fimfictio. So no, I am not another Gabrial Blessing, capable of writing a ten thousand word chapter in one sitting. So in light of that, the next chapter is going to take a bit to put up here, a bit of patiance may be required :/


	14. Chapter 11 : Funeral

A sole drop ship flew across what seemed like an endless plane of clouds forming a flat surface. The moon shone down upon the world, the night sky, with all of its stars and distant nebulas, shone with clarity that only a world without the slightest modern light pollution could have.

Within the drop ship were only three occupants, the pilot, an Air Mage, and a man in a black jumpsuit with many utility pockets and a utility belt to match. His visage was completely shielded from sight by a hood pulled over his head that cast unnaturally thick shadows over his face.

The Air Mage stood next to the lowered ramp as the ship sailed over the cloudy skies of Equestria. He had a hand pressed to the side of his helmet as he stared at the moon through his black, metal, crested helm. Then on an unheard and unseen signal, he turned to the man in the black jumpsuit sitting unharnessed. The Air Mage jerked his head towards the maw in front of him, leading to open air.

The black jump-suited mage, for that's the only thing he could be, got up from his seat in a smooth movement and seemed to glide across the floor silently. Reaching the opening, he dove out gracefully and streamlined his form. The black mage shot into the cloud cover for a moment before taking a spread eagle form. He began making some slight adjustments in his free fall as he exited the cloud cover.

Far below him was the capital of Equestria and the surrounding destroyed landscape and villages. Canterlot shined with the light of campfires and the floodlights that Erika's company had installed on the walls. In the surrounding countryside, bonfires still blazed with intensity, but the smoke seemed to have grown more fowl as bodies rotted before they could be burned.

The black mage, having finished adjusting his course, streamlined his form once more. He quickly sped up to terminal velocity as he aimed for the heavily damaged Royal Palace. His form was almost invisible against the night sky and cloud cover. The few palace guards that were left would not be able to spot the falling mage with their naked eyes, the Warmages in the city would have likely detected the man with their onboard armor systems alone… but they were busy going through a surprise companywide system update and would not be able to do so for several minutes. Additionally, the Warmages with powerful sight and sensing magics were busy elsewhere…

The black mage shot through an opening in the palace walls at incredible speeds. Before crashing into the floor of the hall, he flipped over and spread his arms out wide. The mage came to a complete and sudden stop as kinetic force from his fall continued forward and kicked up a substantial cloud of dust.

He silently settled on the floor and took stock of his surroundings. The hall was lined with columns covered in torn and burnt banners, paintings and tapestries depicting ponies and peaceful times. It was also significantly damaged, as was attested by the hole he flew in, the great cracks running up and along the walls, and the fallen, beautifully carved masonry rendered so much heavy garbage.

Darting down the hall, silent as the night he was shrouded by, the intruder leapt and dashed around obstacles in his path. He suddenly came to a stop before an intersection in the hall. Leaping to the side he moved behind a column and disappeared within the shadow it casted.

In a few short moments, two of Luna's Night Guard appeared around the corner; one of them was a unicorn and was casting a constant light spell from his horn. They walked down the hall the mage had just been in and closely examined their surroundings as they went. One of them took pains to look around the columns as they passed, but found nothing. As the light of the unicorn's spell faded into the distance of the hall, the mage emerged from the shadows of the column and stared after them. He quickly darted down the hall they came from and disappeared within the shadows of the palace interior.

The interior was lit by torches placed throughout the halls, but the mage had barely encountered any guards, other than the ones he dodged earlier. He continued to move along the halls, appearing briefly as a streak of black whenever he dashed across a lit area. Finally he arrived at a pair of doors that had been bashed inwards and hung loosely by the bottom hinges.

The black mage stopped at the doors and looked inside. It was the palace library, and it was surprisingly untouched compared to the other areas of the palace. The windows were broken, a few chairs and tables were tipped over, and the remains of several shattered vases covered the floor. It was as if the Astrals had charged into the room, saw that it was a library, and not a room full of guards to fight or ponies to terrorise, and simply wrecked the room half-heartedly because it was in character.

The mage walked into the room and reached for a large pouch on his belt. He unzipped it and hundreds of tiny spheres with blue lights began to spill out of the bag and floated over to the shelves. Beams of blue light emerged from the spheres and began to run along the books before moving along to the next one. This went on for several seconds before the mage suddenly looked over his shoulder and waved at the spheres. Immediately, the lights faded and the floating balls drifted to the dark corners of the room to hide. The mage did the same as he quickly darted to the furthest book shelf and reached a hand within in it. The surreal sight of a full grown man in a black jumpsuit somehow melding with the shadows of the shelf itself went unwatched.

A few moments later, a light appeared from around the corner and its source entered the library. It was Shining Armor; he was wearing his full purple regalia, still dirty and battered from the Astral invasion, and had dark circles under his eyes. Shining Armor looked at the library with narrowed eyes and began walking through the entire room, scanning the book cases, ceiling, and floor as he went.

Within the shadows of the bookcase he hid within, the black mage extended two blades from the bottom of his wrists as Armor walked past the bookshelf he was in. Shining Armor stood in the middle of the hall and looked around suspiciously; just as the mage began to tense to leap forward from the shadows, he flared his nostrils and walked out of the room.

A moment after the Captain of the Guard left, the black mage emerged from the shadows of the shelf and stared at the door cautiously before waving his hand. The little spheres immediately emerged from their hiding spots and went right back to scanning the books. They quickly finished and returned to the pouch they came from. The mage zipped the pouch closed and leapt out through one of the nearby broken windows. He landed on the ground softly and took a look at the deserted courtyard, ruined by craters from cannon balls. He quickly took off at a silent run into the darkness of the night.

A few moments later, a dark streak shot into the scorched and burned palace gardens. Only when the streak stopped next to a certain statue did the form of the black mage became discernible. The mage looked upon the figure of the statue, to him it was some sort of odd chimera with an equine head and serpentine body, with all its other limbs being more fit on other species, and its face twisted into one of disbelieving horror; to ponies everywhere, the statue represented evil and chaos and was a prison for the being within.

The black mage opened the pouch containing the scanning machines. The little spheres swarmed out and began orbiting the statue in their hundreds. They all emitted their scanning lights and moved about the statue in a veritable light show. The display continued for twenty seconds, scanning again and again, making sure what results were gained were absolutely conclusive. They quickly darted back into the pouch as soon as they were finished. The mage moved without wasting a moment and streaked over onto a far wall where he perched on the edge. He stared at the mountainside and devastated countryside that stretched below him as he waited.

Behind the mage, several guards moved into the gardens to investigate the lights they had seen. They quickly trotted towards the statue and prison of Discord, fearing that the seal was weakening. As soon as they were sure nothing had happened to the statue, they began searching the garden. The black mage was in no immediate danger of being discovered, as his position was a considerable distance away from the guard ponies, and his shadow magics made him one with the darkness of the night.

On an unseen and unheard signal, the mage made a graceful dive over the edge into the open air. His spread eagled form fell for several long seconds before he was plucked from midair by another black streak. The mage endured the shock from suddenly changing directions that would have shredded a lesser being, and made himself limp. The mage watched as he rapidly approached the cloud cover in mere seconds and rapidly lost velocity as he entered.

Above the cloud cover, a drop ship sailed above the clouds at a rapid pace, as if waiting for something. Eventually, an Air Mage holding a hooded man in a black jumpsuit pieced the clouds and settled onto the extended ramp softly. The Air Mage released his cargo and the black mage serenely stepped into the hold of the ship.

The ramp closed behind the two mages, who proceeded to relax. The form of the Shadow Mage lost all signs of tension as he reached up and pulled back his hood revealing a sleek black gas-mask helm with dark red lenses. The Air Mage fiddled with a bag that was sitting on one of the seats and pulled out a black long-coat, a blood red cloak, and a peaked cap with a pink lambda symbol on the front. With these in hand, the Air Mage approached the Shadow Mage.

"How did your mission go, Operative Daniels?" The Air Mage asked as he handed the Operative his peaked cap and coat.

"It went perfectly," Daniels replied as he put on his cap and coat. "I was hoping I would have to get creative in the use of my Shadow magic, but sadly this was not the case. Compared to other places I've had to get into, the palace of the Equestrian royalty was one of the easiest. If the mission was assassination, I would have been long gone by the time they found the bodies. Granted, the recent events give them some excuse, but still."

"So you got everything sir?" The Air Mage asked as he placed the Operative's cloak over his shoulders.

"Yes, everything is right here." Daniels tapped the pouch under his coat. "I even got the bonus objective. I was told it may be heavily guarded and moved to a more secure location than the one described in the report. But it was right where it was supposed to be and completely unguarded, a further example of their rather sad performance."

"Congratulations sir," The Air Mage replied. "There will be mass funerals held in Canterlot and Ponyville tomorrow at noon sir. Most of the COs decided to attend one of them as a sign of respect, Captain Sparkly was rather adamant about the one in Ponyville rather than the capital, so they are going to that one. Captain Alexandria wanted to know if you are going to attend as well."

"Hmm… aren't the ponies I interrogated aboard the Melody going to be there?" Daniels smiled behind his mask, Alexandria always liked to have some sort of idea of where he was and didn't like how he could disappear from sight and sensor aboard her own ship.

"Yes sir." The Air Mage answered. "Princess Celestia will be attending the funeral in Ponyville as well."

"Really?" Daniels asked with a raised eyebrow behind his mask. "She won' be attending the one in Canterlot, her own capital city, as her duty as Princess would normally dictate."

"Her sister Luna is going to take her place during the proceedings in the Canterlot funerals sir." The Air Mage answered.

"Hmm… fascinating." Daniels stood in quiet contemplation for a moment. "Well this does interest me. Besides, it is always good to touch base with acquaintances. Inform Captain Alexandria that I will be attending the Ponyville funeral."

"Right away sir."

**A**

Ponyville hospital was relatively silent. Most of the patients had drifted off into a drug-induced sleep, and the few that did not need chemical assistance had fallen asleep by themselves, or joined friends and family in a temporary camp. But not all was quiet and calm.

"You said he would be awake by this morning!" The sound of Erika's growl pieced the silence and disturbed those sleeping in the neighbouring rooms.

"I-I said he _should_ be up sometime today!" A scared Nurse Redheart sat in the corner of the room, holding her clipboard in front of her face for some form of protection. "I-I didn't promise anything! Please, these things happen sometimes! J-just give him more time and he'll wake up!"

Erika's response was a growl that would make a timberwolf lay its ears flat and pull its tail between its legs submissively. The irritated unicorn stepped closer to Redheart and made her armor expand until she stood taller than Celestia and the floor creaked and cracked slightly from the increase in weight. The white coated earth pony simply crouched on the floor and put her clipboard over her head as if to ward off oncoming blows.

Erika knew it wasn't the nurse's that fault Spike wasn't awake yet, she knew she wasn't supposed to act this way to a civilian, and she knew she would regret it later when the Major or Captain Alexandria found out about it. But her composure was simply shot; the drugs warding off her emotional crises had worn off long ago and couldn't be applied again for fear of addiction, so she had a minor breakdown the night before and there was nothing she could do about it but simply bear with it. Her memories of her time in Ponyville continued to seep into her mind the longer she stayed in the town, causing her more emotional backlash whenever she recognised dead ponies from the background of her memories. Also the strain of finding out her 'home' was nothing but a pile of ash, and the fact Spike had not awoken from his head injury, all combined to create one stressed out Warmage willing to take out her frustrations on anyone unfortunate enough to be caught nearby.

"Euuggh…" A sleepy voice groaned out from behind the Warmage. "What's with all the noise? Can't a dragon get some sleep around here?"

Erika's eyes widened behind her visor, she knew that voice!

The Atlantean unicorn turned around to see Spike sitting up in bed, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. She ignored the sounds of sniffling from behind her, followed by rapid hoof steps and the sound of a door opening, and stepped toward the newly awakened baby dragon. The floor creaked with every step, but it was as if all the stress drained away through them as she closed in on Spike. She came to a stop next to the bed just as the baby dragon finished cleaning out his eyes.

"WHOA!" Spike nearly jumped out of bed when he took in the sight of Erika right next to him. "Jeez, did the palace guard get an upgrade or something? Wait… Princess is that you, when did you start wearing armor?" Spike said in wonder.

Erika simply stood in silence for a brief moment before ordering her armor to retract fully. Spike gaped as the armored pony before him shrunk down from the size of Celestia to a regular pony. His eyes widened when the armor began to retract and revealed a purple coat, but more importantly revealed a symbol of one star superimposed over another, Twilight's cutie mark.

"Twi-Twilight?" Spike asked hopefully as Erika's armor finished retracting by removing her helm last.

"Hello Spike," Erika greeted the little dragon and stepped close to his bedside. "I've been hoping to finally meet you."

"Twilight!" Spike shouted happily, leaning forward and wrapping the violet unicorn in a hug, which caused him to miss Erika's irritated twitch. "When-how did you get back? Never mind, I'm so- wait, why are you acting like you're meeting me for the first time?" Spike tilted his head at Erika and lifted a claw to scratch his bandaged head, only to wince in pain when he did so.

"Oh no, the library!" Spike gasped when he remembered what happened before he got knocked unconscious. "The town, jeez is everypony…"

"Spike, shhhh." Erika said as she raised a hoof to Spike's mouth. "The town is… intact."

"There was a pause, why did you pause Twilight?" Spike asked worriedly, this time he did notice the irritated twitch. "Hey now, I'm just worried about everypony. Can you blame a guy for being worried after what was happening?" Spike said with a shudder. "There were these ships filling the sky and this huge weird portal that hurt to look at. Then there were these apelike creatures running all over the place, shouting and waving swords at ponies…" Spike bowed his head a little in shame of himself when he remembered that he hid under his bed's blankets. The only reason he didn't run under Twilight's bed was because it seemed so far away at the time.

"Stop it right there Spike." Erika said firmly, she had enough experience with the civilian survivors of assaults that she could see Spike was feeling guilty over not doing anything to help. "There wasn't anything you could have truly done to help. Even if you did try, it would have likely ended up with you being seriously injured or kil- or worse." Erika hastily corrected herself. "Look, there is a lot we need to talk about, but it can wait until tomorrow morning." Spike opened his mouth to object, but Erika cut him off. "Please Spike, it can wait."

"…Okay Twi'." Spike agreed reluctantly and lay back on his bed gently. "I'm glad you're back now though. Not sure how I'm supposed to go to sleep when you leave me hanging like this…" Spike muttered.

Erika just smiled and brought her forelegs up and folded them under her head. She laid her head over her legs and closed her eyes to begin sleeping. She could have easily made herself fall asleep the moment she closed her eyes, but Erika simply laid there, wide awake.

_'What am I doing?'_ She thought to herself._ 'It's like I'm waiting for something to…'_

Suddenly, Erika felt a clawed finger poke her on the noise a few times. She felt the strongest urge to open her eyes, but forced it down. A few moments later, a small scaly body moved close to her and she felt little arms wrap around her neck. Erika heard a small sigh followed by steady breathing. She cracked open an eye and gave a small smile when she saw Spike giving her a hug as he went to sleep.

_'Ah, so that's what I was waiting for.'_ Erika thought before putting herself to sleep.

**A**

Erika tended to rise bright and early, and had awoken at 6:00AM on the mark. Because of the way Spike had gone to sleep, he woke up when Erika rose out of his arms and began to stretch. He then proceeded to defend his manliness by claiming he ended up hugging her 'totally by accident.' Erika had only smirked at him; Spike smiled sheepishly and poked his two fore fingers together.

After she finished stretching Erika into her 'pockets' and pulled out a small mirror, another trick she had no idea how her species was able to do without using magic, and examined her appearance. She sighed when she saw her morning mane.

_'Rock star hair again huh.'_ She thought to herself bemusedly._ 'Well, it's not the worst morning hair somebody can get. Some people consider it a hairstyle of choice after all.'_ With that, she shook her head and violet sparks appeared and ran through here mane, when they vanished, it looked like she had been brushed very thoroughly and been treated with fine shampoos and conditioners. Erika smiled appreciatively, she preferred an actual shower any day, but she was a practical person.

"Huh, that's a new one," Spike commented from his bed. "It's gotta be pretty useful though."

"Yes, it is." Erika nodded with a smile. If she needed to, Erika could have gone months without washing; after all, they don't train people like her by putting them in the lap of luxury. She often had to go to sleep covered in mud and wade through fresh cloned blood. But it was much more pleasant to use magic to simply get rid of grease and knots in her mane, and rid her body of sweat and… the filth that would eventually build up.

Erika turned to Spike and her smile slowly faded and her heart began to clench with no little amount of dread. She knew she had to tell him the whole story about what happened to her. There were no doubts about it, as she couldn't just withhold the truth and hope he didn't notice the changes in her personality.

"Twilight, are you alright?" Spike asked as the unicorn approached with a wince upon being called her old name.

"In light of what I have to tell you, no Spike, I'm not feeling alright." Erika replied with a frown.

"Why? What's the matter Twi'?" Spike asked in worry. "D-did something happen to Rarity when they went to get you?"

That caused Erika's mouth to twitch into a smile for a brief moment.

"Rarity and the others are fine Spike, don't worry." Erika reassured the baby dragon. "But what I need to talk to you about does concern where they went."

"Now… this is going to sound odd at first, but just listen until I finish okay?" She told Spike and got a nod; Erika took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Thank you. Over a month ago Tw-[i]I[/i] was teleported away by Discord. That's how long ago it was for you, but for me… it's been forty five years…"

And so Erika began her life's tale, tentatively, with her eyes closed, to help her remember parts of her life to tell… or so she convinced herself. Erika was a Gefallen though, no matter how much she secretly wished to not reveal to Spike the details of her life, something that even her closest Equestrian friends saw as horrific tales of carnage, she would do it anyway. [i]'One step after the other, come what may.'[/i] A creed she found herself repeating as she told Spike her life's story.

She began with being found as a foal in a cardboard box and being adopted into the Gefallen family. Tales of her childhood life growing up in the Gefallen family compound, getting into trouble with her older brother Conrad as he dragged her into all sorts of situations, despite her being the more grown up and mature of the two mentally, her dream to join the Warmages and be among the many other Gefallens who had contributed to the Empire. Her first days at the academy, and how she quickly became the most envied Cadet there, with her ability to quickly get her magic to attune to different styles, Mind, Battle, Assault, Healing, they even let her try a few Soul magic techniques. It seemed like she could be a jack of all trades at magic and still be masterful; her book grades proved to be just as prodigal as her practical grades, proving that she was as book smart as she was naturally skilled. It was to no one's surprise when she graduated from the academy not five years after entering, it was still an unprecedented and record breaking event for all the teachers and trainers. Finally, she came to the parts of her life that she knew would horrify the little dragon, her time as a Warmage. She told him about some of her deployments and missions, her promotions, and dealing with the aftermath of battles, she shared it all up till the point she met Celestia and the five Elements of Harmony.

Through it all, Erika had kept her eyes closed and had to rely on her hearing to gauge Spike's reaction. She heard him gasp in shock when she told him how long it had been for her, a little laugh when she described a prank Conrad had somehow convinced her to take part in, but he had been unnervingly quiet after she told him about the academy. Erika imagined all sorts of expressions on Spike's face as her tale went on; was he horrified, disgusted, hateful of her and what she was? The mind tended to work against itself in times like these.

With her story finished, Erika stood there waiting for a reaction, any reaction. But there was only judgemental silence. Unable to bear it any longer, she opened her eyes.

Spike was simply sitting in bed staring at his blanket covered feet. His mouth hung open a little and his brows were furrowed as his eyes shifted side to side every few moments, deep in thought. Finally he took a shaky deep breath and looked at Erika with a carefully blank expression.

"That… that was really hard for you to tell wasn't it?" Spike asked.

Erika nodded wordlessly.

"But… it's still you, Twilight, right?"

"I don't have all of he-my memories yet." Erika answered, and then said irritably. "Sometimes I feel like… like an old oak with a rotten, weak core…"

_'…W-what is wrong with me?... I've killed before! By the First Generation, I've probably killed millions by proxy alone!.. Just my memories being useless baggage right now...'_ memories echoed in Erika's mind.

"… Other times I feel like a normal person… trapped within the body of a crazed chimera…" She added softly.

_'…I-I-I k-killed somepony… H-he was just minding his own business and I just killed him, just like that… D-d-dear Ce-Celestia I-I've killed millions, I'm a monster!...'_

"… then there are times where I…"

**_'…GET AWAY FROM HER YOU FUCKING BASTARD!…'_**

"… Where I feel just right." Erika finished calmly.

There was silence for several moments, before the sound of a pair of clawed feet landing on linoleum floor filled the air. Spike had quickly pushed away his blanket and gotten off the bed. He stood on the floor for a moment and steadily stared at Erika before walking forward, leaping up at her, and wrapping his arms around her neck in a hug. Erika just stood there in shocked silence, not expecting the baby dragon to just up and hug her. Before the Warmage could tentatively return the hug, Spike let go of her and took a step back to look up at her seriously.

"Well… I'm just going to have to help you get your memories back. After all, what kind of assistant would I be if I didn't help you when you need it most?" Spike declared with a small smile.

"You… you don't mind what I am and what I've done?" Erika asked with a disbelieving smile.

"Weeeeell, I'm sort of stuck between 'insanely cool' and having my scales scared off of me." Spike answered honestly with a nervous laugh.

Erika snorted with a small laugh. _'Of course, he's a teenager after all, or wait, is that different with dragons?'_

Erika took a glance at the clock on the wall and saw it read 10:30am. About an hour and a half before the funeral would start.

"Come with me Spike, let's get you signed out." Erika said. "We have to go to Rarity's boutique to get a suit for you."

"Why?" He was all up for going to Rarity's anytime, but he wanted to know why he needed a suit from her.

"Because I… because there is going to be a funeral, and I want you to be there with me." Erika replied.

"Oh…" Spike said with a suddenly dour expression. "Well… okay then. Say… what do I call you anyways?"

Erika was about to walk out the door, she looked over her shoulder and winced at the expression on Spike's face, she knew what he wanted to call her. "I would feel better if you called me Erika, Spike." She answered before walking out the door.

"Alright… Erika it is then." Spike said with a slightly disappointed sigh as he followed her out.

**A**

Erika had quickly left the hospital with a bandaged Spike in tow once she signed him out at the front desk. Once they were on the street, Spike had asked Erika about the 'armored ape creatures' and she had explained that they were fellow Warmages, whose species were called humans. She then explained what exactly had happened to Equestria, and who invaded it, as they traveled to Rarity's Boutique.

"So the Astral Lord could call endless armies by will alone?" Spike asked as they entered the Boutique's front door.

"Yes, as long as the Astral Lord was here, he could keep calling in forces through the tear." Erika answered.

"Well you ended that by… stopping him, right?" The baby dragon asked, trying to avoid saying kill.

"I helped kill him, yes." Erika replied unaware of Spike's wince. "But simply killing the Astral Lord does not mean the battle is won, as long as the portal remains open, more Astral Lords can swarm in, and there's the fact that Astral Lords never truly di-"

"Twilight!" Sweetie Belle shouted as she ran in from the back room. "Rarity told me you just got back! I'm happy you're okay and back home!" Sweetie said as she stared up at Erika, or at least her mane.

"Ugh, Sweetie Belle, I told you her name is Erika now." Rarity said as she also came out of the back room of her boutique. "And leave your stitches alone this instant, young mare!" Rarity stamped her hoof as Sweetie prodded at a stitched cut on her lip.

"Hey, how did you get that cut Sweetie Belle?" Spike asked.

"Oh, uhh… one of those pirate things cut me!" The young unicorn said with a smile that seemed a bit too wide.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "She tripped yesterday, meeting her friends in the refugee camp, and split her lip. I had to take her to the hospital to get it fixed. I have to tell you darling, there were just so many ponies waiting for aid!" Rarity declared as her little sister hung her head in embarrassment.

"We could have been in the waiting room all day if Apothecary Jason had not come by to lend his assistance." Rarity smiled as Sweetie Belle started to prod at her stitches again. "He just walked up, gave Sweetie Belle an anesthetic, and stitched her up in but a few moments. He told me he could have healed her completely if she had been Atlantean, but attempting to do so for a non-Atlantean would require training that very few have. Do you know what he meant by that darling?" Rarity tilted her head in curiosity.

"Could you get a suit fixed up for Spike? I'll tell you as you work." The violet unicorn replied.

Rarity gave a deeply sad smile as she guessed that Erika was going to bring Spike to the funeral. "Of course darling."

She walked over to Spike and gave him a hug. "It's good to see that you're awake Spike, we were getting worried about you."

"Thanks Rarity…" Spike would have normally been gushing over the hug the glamorous unicorn was giving him, but where he was going to be at noon effectively killed the mood for him.

"Now come along and stand on this stool, I'll have you looking dashing in no time at all!" Rarity declared as she summoned a stool over with her magic.

Soon, she was in her working glasses and rapidly, but expertly, sewing up a suit around Spike from scratch. Erika looked around the shop and began to take note of how messy it was. There were rolls of black cloth and lace lying all over the place, and bits of cut material covered the floor.

"You must have been very busy in the past few days." Erika commented.

"Oh yes, a lot of ponies lost their formal wear in the fires and I've had to rapidly whip up dozens of dresses and suits for them to wear for the coming funeral." Rarity replied absently as she quickly darted a needle through white cloth and attached a sleeve. "You were going to explain why the good sir Jason could not use his healing magic on Sweetie Belle?"

"Oh yes, he means that had he tried to heal Sweetie Belle with Atlantean magic, he would have probably killed her, or worse." Erika explained.

"Oh my!" Rarity turned from Spike and brought a hoof up to her mouth.

"Yikes!" Spike winced, both from the Erika's explanation and the needle that almost sunk into his scales.

"Or worse? What do you mean?" Sweetie asked with wide, wondering eyes.

Erika looked down at the younger unicorn evenly and replied. "You would have been healed, but would have eventual turned into a mass of dying, mutating, cancerous flesh."

"EWWW, that sounds gross!" Sweetie shouted disgustedly.

"It is, and it's also a superb form of execution for rebels on newly conquered alien wor -" Erika closed her mouth with a clack a bit too late and looked at Spike and Rarity.

Both of them had gaping, horrified expressions, and were staring at the Warmage. Erika winced and looked away with a frown.

"Sorry…" She muttered.

Rarity simply took a deep breath and turned back to her work, somewhat used to her friend's bouts of lack of propriety. Spike however was still gaping.

"You… you guys do that?" Spike asked. "You execute ponies you don't like?"

Erika looked at Spike and then let out a sigh. "It's necessary to keep order. Those being executed often have a kill count well into the double digits that consists almost entirely of their own people. Besides, death is not a punishment, it is a release, what they experience before is their punishment, and they most definitely deserve it." Erika stated firmly.

"Right… right, of course they do…" Spike said while taking a deep breath; Rarity shook her head distastefully at the conversation while she worked.

Silence reigned after that as a dour atmosphere dominated the room, even Sweetie didn't seem eager to break it with her chatter. Erika simply sat in front of the boutique's window and watched the street as she waited for Rarity to finish Spike's suit. Ponies and Warmages alike passed the window as they walked along. Erika spotted an increasing number of ponies wearing black formal wear as she watched, the colts wearing black suits, and the mares wearing long, black dresses, often with black lace veils hanging over their faces from the hats they wore. She also spotted Captain Alexandria, Major Cobalt, and several other officers wearing their decorated, black, dress uniforms walking past.

"Finished darlings!" Rarity announced.

Erika turned and saw Spike wearing his suit, well the torso part at least. He had a black jacket and black tie with a white dress shirt. Spike placed one clawed hand on his hip and another on his chin and arced one scaly green eyebrow.

"Well, what do you guys think." Spike asked. "Am I handsome or what?"

Erika thought he looked cute. "You look positively dashing Spike!" She declared with a smile.

"Oh dear, Erika look at the time." Rarity said with a hoof pointed at the clock. "If I get started on your dress now, we will be ever so late!"

Erika just raised a placating hoof at her friend and took off her cuirass. Erika held her un-deployed power armor in her hooves and stared at it with pursed lips. She, almost reluctantly, put her armor 'away' and 'pulled out' her jacket uniform. She stared at her jacket with an almost bewildered expression before gritting her teeth and placing the jacket around herself, forcefully shoving a foreleg through both sleeves.

"… Is there something wrong Erika?" Rarity asked as her friend appeared to get angry with her jacket for no apparent reason.

"Oh everything is perfectly fine; everything just makes absolutely perfect sense." Erika replied with a frown. "I'm guessing from what you said earlier that you are going to attend as well?"

"But of course!" Rarity replied. "Just give us a few minutes. Come along Sweetie Belle, I'll help you get into your dress."

Rarity closed the door to her back room and left Erika and Spike alone in the front. Erika turned to Spike, enjoying his brand new suit. Spike opened his mouth to say something, only for nothing to come out; he repeated this action several times more, but got the same result each time. This bout of awkwardness continued for several moments until Spike finally managed to say something.

"So… about those uhhh, executions…" Spike began.

"Perhaps that isn't the right topic to talk about, Spike." Erika interrupted.

"Of course, you are absolutely right, what was I thinking? Eheh…" Spike said, rubbing his bandaged head sheepishly. "Well… uhhh… do you still like books?"

"I don't mind reading, I have an entire library worth of books back in the compound." Erika answered "But I don't read very often, I usually have something more important or fun to do."

"More FUN? More IMPORTANT than reading?" Spike replied incredulously. "Okay… how about uhhh… scheduling and making check lists!"

Erika blinked. "Scheduling and check lists? I usually entrust those little chores to someone else."

Spike just stared at her.

"Is there something wrong?"

Spike sighed and rubbed his head. "No, nothing is wrong Erika. I just realized this is going to be harder than I thought."

Any further conversation was ended by the door to the backroom opening.

"Sweetie Belle, stop fussing with your dress!" Rarity said, frustration seeping into her voice as she ushered her little sister out of the room.

Rarity was wearing a long, black dress, lined with black lace and wore a wide brimmed hat that had a long, black lace veil attached. Her sister wore a similar black dress, minus the hat.

"How do I look?" Rarity asked as she turned in place.

"You look beautiful Rarity." Spike said in awe.

Erika rolled her eyes at the little dragon. "Completely ravishing." She told the glamorous unicorn.

"Thank you darlings!" Rarity smiled appreciatively. "One must look their best, even in these trying times. Well, shall get going?"

**A**

The four left the boutique and proceeded down the street. It was almost time for the funeral, so the streets were mostly empty, only a handful of ponies and the Warmages on guard duty were seen as they traveled to their destination. Eventually, they came within view of the cemetery where a large crowd of ponies and a handful of Warmages were standing.

Many benches had been set up in front of fifty-two caskets, placed alongside their graves and headstones. Erika saw that instead of taking seats, the COs that were attending were standing off to the side, for good reason too, as the seats were a bit too small for them. Curiously, Princess Celestia was also there, and stood beside the Warmages. Among the mages present were Captain Alexandria, Major Cobalt, Squadron Leader Richards, Captain Vinzenz, Captain Sammy, and the two Commanders from aboard the Melody.

Erika was about to join the mages when she felt a tug on the sleeve of her jacket. She looked down and saw Sweetie Belle looking up at her.

"Where are you going Erika?" Sweetie Belle asked. "They're waiting for us on the benches."

Erika looked over and saw that Rarity and Spike had already taken seats near the back and were saving spots for her and Sweetie. The unicorn Warmage found herself at an impasse as she looked back and forth between the officers and her friends for a few moments.

It seemed Alexandria had noticed Erika's predicament and caught the unicorn's attention. Erika saw the Captain's head nod approvingly at her and the unicorn gave an appreciating smile in return. She turned and followed Sweetie Belle to the bench where Rarity and Spike were, and took the seat next to the baby dragon.

Erika saw that an old, light gray, nearly bald pony with a priest's collar around his neck and a pair of black rimmed glasses stood in front of the large collection of caskets. The old pony set a book on a stand in front of him and adjusted his glasses as he flipped through pages. Erika had been to many, many funerals before and couldn't really help not paying attention, so she began discreetly looking at the seated ponies around her.

She spotted Applejack off to the far right, sitting with her family. The cowpony had dressed up, she wore a simple, long, black dress and had her mane pulled into a tight bun, a long, black ribbon hung from where it was secured. Her little sister, whose bow was replaced with a black one, and Granny Smith appeared to have matching dresses, while Big Macintosh wore a black suit.

Pinkie was up near the front with the Cakes. They were all wearing black clothes like the others. Mrs. Cake was crying heavily, Erika could tell from the way her shoulders shook and the way her forelegs were held in front of her face.

It took the Warmage a few moments to recognize a particular blond and gray coated pony as the local mail mare. She was sitting at the very front, and was being comforted by the mint green unicorn with a lyre on her flank and an earth pony with a half pink and half dark blue mane.

Spotting a gleam of black metal, Erika saw that there were some Warmages in the crowd of ponies, but they were sitting on the ground rather than the benches. One in particular was sitting right to a gray little filly with a pair of baby blue glasses and had her arm wrapped around the little pony in a hug.

Erika glanced around and found familiar looking pink and rainbow manes. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were sitting together; both wearing black dresses while the demure pegasus had her little rabbit angel sitting on her head.

"… Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Erika heard an aged voice say and realized she had missed the funeral rites being recited.

_'Oh well, it's not as if I haven't heard funeral rites before.'_ Erika mentally shrugged as a large group of unicorns approached the caskets from the side.

The unicorns' horns lit up as one and they lifted the caskets of the dead. The caskets lifted into the air and carefully settled into the graves. With that, the Atlantean officers tipped their caps in respect and began leaving as ponies got up from their seats and quietly spoke to each other, offering consolations to those who lost friends and family.

Erika got up from her seat and began to follow Rarity to the rest of her friends with Spike in tow behind her, when a voice called out to her.

"Sparkly, could you join us for a moment?" Captain Alexandria called to her with Major Cobalt standing next to her.

"Yes ma'am." Erika took a breath; she guessed what this was about.

"Erika, where are you going?" Spike asked, and upon seeing the unicorn's expression added. "What's wrong?"

"Just… just wait here with the others Spike." Erika gave a strained smile. "I'll be back, don't worry."

"Sure thing… I can wait."

The three of them walked a good distance away from the crowd of ponies and handful of Warmages, stopping at a small copse of trees.

"Captain." Cobalt greeted in Atlantean.

"Major Cobalt sir." Erika responded in the same language and gave a quick salute to her CO.

"Well Sparkly, you were always one of the most composed and dutiful Warmage I've met…" Alexandria began as she took off her peaked cap and brushed it off. "So imagine my surprise when I got word from Major Cobalt about an incident between one of the locals and a Warmage. An incident involving a certain nurse, ring any bells Sparkly?"

"Yes ma'am, unfortunately." Erika tightened her jaw and prepared for the worst.

"Well, considering this was the first such incident between our two peoples I decided to handle it personally." Now holding her cap under an arm, Alexandria gazed at Erika with a neutral expression. "So I met with Miss Redheart and talked to her. I went into the conversation about the incident assuming I would have to provide compensation for her 'trauma.' But as I explained the situation to her, that you were under a vast amount of mental and emotional stress at the time of the incident, she surprised me."

Alexandria allowed a small smile to grace her features. "She told me she understood what was wrong and even sympathized with you. She explained that her job as a nurse isn't the easiest profession and can take its toll, and so not only understood why you lashed out like you did, but also forgave you for it."

"She… she forgave me?" The violet unicorn gaped. "Just like that, even after I terrified her?"

"Oh yes she did." Alexandria nodded. "But if I were you, I would still make it my top priority to apologize, face to face."

"O-of course ma'am!"

"Now before you go, I would like to take to you about something, namely your promotion."

"A promotion?" Erika had come into this thinking she going to get a chewing out, not a promotion. She immediately wondered if this was an actual promotion or a 'promotion'.

"Killing one Astral Lord is impressive enough for someone of your rank, but two? That deserves something more than just a commendation." Alexandria stated with Cobalt nodding his agreement. "So I'm giving you the rank of Major, and placing you in change of a facility in the near future."

Erika nodded gravely. So this was one of those, she wondered what out of the way place on some backwater planet she was going to guard.

"Don't look so glum Sparkly." Alexandria said with an amused smile. "I'm fairly sure you will find your new station to your liking."

"Since your company will no longer have a Captain in the near future, I'm taking this opportunity to promote Jacobs to Captain to take your place." Cobalt stated and raised a hand when Erika opened her mouth to protest. "No defending him, I know that you sought his advice on multiple occasions and followed through on them. He is not going to refuse a promotion he deserves and can handle this time."

"… Yes sir."

"We are the same rank now Erika." Major Cobalt smiled. "It's Cobalt."

"I do believe we are finished here _Major_ Sparkly." Captain Alexandria said with a smile and pointed behind the unicorn. "I think the Princess wishes to speak with you." With that, the two officers took their leave.

Erika stared at the retreating forms of Alexandria and Cobalt for a moment before turning around to see Celestia standing a short distance away. Princess Celestia looked little worse for wear, but her two day old bruises had faded a bit and she did not appear to be in any great amount of pain, as the soft smile she was giving Erika attested.

"Princess." Erika greeted and wondered if she should make the effort to smile politely. She resolved to do that later and simply allowed her features to relax.

"Hello Erika, how are you?" Celestia asked.

"I…" Erika thought about the emotional roller coaster she had gone through the night before, the stress she felt while telling Spike the story of her life and wondering if he would still see her as a person, and not a mass-murdering monster. "I could definitely be better, Princess."

The alicorn sighed at that. "Times are hard Erika, the past few days have felt more difficult than the past thousand years combined." Celestia stared up at the overcast sky, now a light gray, and released another sigh. "You know your birth brother, Shining Armor, has been asking about you."

Erika turned her head away from the Princess. "I really don't know how to even approach this situation, Princess. I have always had brothers, even sisters, hundreds of them in fact. But I've never actually had to meet one that I couldn't bond over years of service with." That was the one thing Erika could always rely on when she meet with the more generationally distant members of her family for the first time, even the children could be entertained with her war stories. Here though, the tales that she often shared with children were taken as horror stories, and she doubted that her pony brother, Captain of the Guard though he may be, would find her tales as something to bond over.

"I will not push you Erika." Celestia said with a sad smile. "But Shining Armor has been very worried about his baby sister."

"Hmph, I'm the older one here, not him." Erika snorted.

_'… I will not run from this.'_ The unicorn thought to herself.

"Don't worry Princess." Erika said with a tired sigh. "I'll meet him. Just give me a few weeks to get things in order, okay?"

"Armor will be happy to hear that." Celestia replied happily. "I will see you again soon Erika. I must return to the capital and help my sister organize our kingdom." The Sun Princess said before trotting off to the town.

Now alone, Erika took a deep calming breath. Today was a most certainly trying day for her and she looked forward to crawling into her bedroll at the end of it. With that the Atlantean unicorn turned back to the cemetery proper where her friends were waiting.

**A**

"Thank you for coming with me to my… my parents' funeral Miss Zoe." Silver Spoon said with barely restrained tears.

"There's no need for thanks, I was glad to be there for you today." Zoe was even gladder that someone was willing to cover for her so she could be there in the first place. "And call me Zoe, Silver."

"…okay."

Zoe and Silver Spoon were walking down a hall within the hospital. After the funeral, Silver wanted to visit her friend before she went back to the camp, where the school teacher, Cheerilee, volunteered to look after the few young ponies who were recently orphaned. They arrived at their destination; the door to the room Silver's friend was healing in. Silver Spoon opened the door carefully and quietly, and looked within.

"… Hey Sil…" A tired voice said quietly.

"Tiara I'm happy you're awake." The little gray filly said and opened the door all the way.

Zoe followed Silver Spoon into the room. On the bed was a little pink filly with a pink coat and a light purple and white mane, on her flank was a little tiara. The small pony was completely fine, except for the fact that both her left legs were missing at the knees, the stumps covered with bandages.

"… Hello Miss Zoe." Tiara greeted the Battle Mage. She had met her yesterday when Silver brought her along to visit.

"Hello Diamond Tiara, you know you could call me Zoe if you want." After seeing Diamond Tiara for the first time, Zoe could tell the little filly was a proud individual. Or rather, she would have been, if it weren't for the fact she was now orphaned and handicapped.

They had found Diamond Tiara when some Warmages were shifting through the remains of the manor she lived in, now the wreckage of a crashed Astral ship. When they found her, she was actually dead, and had been for roughly four and a half minutes. One of the Mages gave her a quick shock to restart her heart and got her breathing again. Deeper in the wreckage they had found the bodies of two other ponies, they were far beyond help.

Tiara was brought to the hospital and had awaked soon after. However, she appeared to be completely unaware of the world around her and stared with glassy, empty eyes. Jason, the relief force's best Apothecary, had been around at the time and decided to take a look at her mind. A quick plunge was all that was needed to determine the cause of the filly's catatonic state. It appeared that while Diamond Tiara was pinned by a heavy wooden beam, she had been forced to watch her parents get slowly crushed. Jason had required a good part of an hour to properly edit out most of the event without frying the filly's brain, but he managed it. Diamond was awake, still traumatized, and with only a vague idea that something horrible and permanent happened to her parents, but she was far better than she was before.

"Did they give you medicine or did you just wake up." Zoe asked the injured filly.

Diamond yawned in response. "I just woke up Miss Zoe." She replied and shifted her legs to sit up, or at least she tried too. Tiara's two stumps wiggled in the air as she tried to lie on her belly to no avail. The filly's eyes grew wide and she looked down at her legs and let out a whimper.

"Tiara! Are you okay, do you hurt?" Silver asked her friend as she began to panic.

"NO! No I am not okay!" Tiara closed her eyes tightly as tears streamed out. "I-I'm just a useless freak who can't even lay down right! What would my parents say if they saw me now?"

_'They'd probably be shocked and appalled that their darling daughter would ever think that way about herself.'_ Zoe guessed with a sad sigh.

"Tiara, you are not going to stay this way forever." Zoe said in an attempt to calm the little pony down.

"I-I-I'm not?" Diamond asked eyes wide with hope.

"No, you're not; it's going to take a while, but I don't doubt that once things begin to calm down a bit more back in the Empire, they'll start sending equipment to fix up ponies like you." Zoe explained. "First they'll likely set up a workshop here and we'll get you a pair of metal legs for you to use for a while. But eventually, some bio-reactors will get shipped in and we can have a new pair of legs grown for you."

"You mean I'll have my legs back?"

"Yep."

"That's awesome!" Silver Spoon shouted in delight for her friend and hugged her. "See Tiara? Things aren't all bad!"

"I guess so…" Diamond Tiara replied and retuned the hug to the best of her ability, a small genuine smile on her face.

_'Well… I feel good.'_ Zoe smiled as she took in the scene before her.

**A**

Ezekiel Gefallen, Emperor of Atlantis, examined the general area. An Atlantean city could be spotted off on the horizon, its immense spires protected by a massive shield that held strong against what appeared to be meteor strikes. The landscape around him was a torn mess, once a lush forest that could match the Amazon in its density, now a cratered and scarred wasteland. And for good reason, as the hundred-story tall mechs that floated in the air around him attested.

All Astral courts were dangerous, but not all Astral courts were equally dangerous. Take the Knightly Court for example, although thanks to the Astral's influence they had powerful suits of armor and incredibly sharp swords, they were still just medieval knights charging a significantly more modern force. The court Ezekiel was facing now though, was far more dangerous. The Ani-Mech Court, as they were named, was based off an ancient animated franchise called Gundam. Their entire force, including the Astral Lords that were members, all piloted massive machines wielding equally massive guns.

Two orbs of pink electricity formed in Ezekiel's hands as hundreds of mechs surrounded him dramatically. He brought his hands together in a clap above his head and smashed the orbs against each other. A massive fountain of pink sparks appeared from him and quickly rained over everything. Wherever the sparks landed, they exploded, violently; explosions big enough to decimate small buildings appeared everywhere. When they ended, the landscape was even more of a mess than before, and had bits of scrap metal decorating it.

Ezekiel took a quick look around, but it appeared that all Astral forces on world had finally been eradicated. The Atlantean Emperor looked up at the sky and could see the glow of the Astral tear piercing through the daylight sky. With a mere thought, he accelerated quickly past the confines of the world and into the void where the battle was still going strong.

And it was definitely going strong. Mage ships and Air Mages assisted Golem ships and fighters in their defense of the world. The Astral tear shined in its entire mind aching glory as mechs of all shapes and sizes flowed out in their millions. And through it all, death and destruction reigned silently in the void.

There was a sudden bloom of multi-colored lights. Ezekiel looked and could see with enhanced sight that hundreds of thousands of mechs that were caught within the bloom were quickly melting away while Air Mages and Golem fighters remained unscathed.

_'BloodBeam.'_ Ezekiel thought. _'A combat PMD. Good, this leaves me to handle the tear.'_

Ezekiel flew ahead into the cloud of Astral forces, until they grew so thick that not even the most gung-ho Air Mage would try to fly into it. But Ezekiel did, and easily smashed through any mech unlucky enough to be in his direct path. Ezekiel came to a stop a few hundred thousand miles away from the tear and pointed his finger at it, tiny, pink sparks arching off the end. The Astral mechs suddenly cleared the area between him and the tear and Ezekiel quickly saw the reason why. Many miles away, directly between him and the tear was another mech. This one had larger, more intricate looking weapons in each hand, a vibrant and eye catching color scheme, and a pair of metallic wings on its back. Ezekiel immediately concluded that this was an Astral Lord.

A pink bolt of lightning leapt from Ezekiel's fingertip and arched towards the Astral Lord and the tear. The Astral Lord quickly rolled out of the way of the bolt and shot towards Ezekiel, guns at the ready. Then the bolt hit the tear.

An all-consuming spherical pink explosion suddenly appeared where the Astral tear was and quickly began expanding. The Astral Lord quickly came to a stop and turned towards the silently raging explosion. Millions of Astral mechs were consumed as they struggled, in vain, to outrun the orb of destruction which continued to expand ever further and faster. The Astral Lord turned to Ezekiel and gave a cheerful salute just as he was consumed. The wall of pink energy came to a sudden stop just inches from the ancient Atlantean's face before slowly losing consistency and fading away.

Ezekiel floated back towards the planet where the battle between several dozen Astral Lords and their forces, and the Atlanteans mages and golems continued to rage in orbit. He took a seat on a passing dismembered arm of a mech. Ezekiel watched as the universe rolled serenely around him for a minute before waving his hand and making a sparking pink barrier appear around him and the arm.

"Hello Operative." Ezekiel said in the newly created atmosphere.

"Ezekiel sir." A Shadow Mage greeted back from his seat next to the Atlantean Emperor.

"How is the situation in Equestria?" Ezekiel asked as he watched another light show bloom up and melt a few Astral Lords and several thousand mechs.

"The invasion has been beaten off and we are in the process of clearing out any stragglers sir." The Operative replied. "We have set up secure camps for ponies seeking refuge and have provided extensive medical aid. We are currently planning to have a few experts shipped in with equipment to give mechanical limbs to those requiring them, later we'll requisition the construction of a few bio-reactors to regrow the limbs instead."

"Good, good." Ezekiel commented as another Astral Lord got swarmed by Air Mages and was torn apart. "And how is Erika?"

"So far, she is fine sir." The Operative started.

"But?"

"Her memories are giving no end of emotional trauma sir." The Shadow Mage answered. "And her behavior had been erratic lately. The Captain has seen fit to have her promoted to Major and plans to have her take command of Major Cobalt's battalion when his new command arrives."

"She's tough, she'll handle it." Ezekiel said and a small, proud smile at his daughter's promotion began to show. "Celestia is not going to like this though. How are you going to justify more Atlantean military forces in her kingdom?"

"We plan to set up an embassy and rent out the entire forest of Everfree for it." The Operative replied. "Do you think a twenty by twenty by twenty solid block of gold will pay the rent? The scientists will definitely be pleased with the flora and fauna samples they'll be able to collect en masse."

"I believe Celestia will find it fair." Ezekiel answered with a smile. "Now, how did Operative Daniels' mission go?"

"Perfectly sir." The hooded mage said. "We have added the contents of Celestia's library to the portfolio concerning Equestria as a whole, and have spotted a few interesting subjects that bear closer research. The bonus objective was also achieved and we are currently studying the data."

"I will be looking forward to the results of the study." Ezekiel replied. "But I believe I already know them, good to make sure though."

Ezekiel's expression became carefully blank as he next spoke. "Have Major Cobalt handle any sensitive missions when he gets his new battalion. Leave the guard duty to Erika, and have any missions that boost our relationship with Equestria handled by her." Ezekiel stated.

"Yes sir." The Operative replied as he took his leave.

Alone once more, Ezekiel dispelled the barrier and turned away from the battle before him. He faced the other planets of the solar system saw the painful vibrant tears beside them.

_'Time to get back to work.'_ Ezekiel thought and took a deep airless breath before disappearing in a bolt of pink lightning.

**-TBC-**


	15. Chapter 12 : Time Passes

Two weeks had passed since the day of the mass funerals held in Canterlot and Ponyville, and things were finally starting to turn around in Equestria. The pegasi of Cloudsdale had finally rebuilt their home in the sky and begun the arduous task of putting the clouds back in order. Within a single week, the sun was finally shining through the cloud cover and the blue sky was visible once more, all thanks to their hard work. Municipal ships and personnel had arrived en masse from the Empire, and with their aid the ship wrecks and piles of rotting corpses were disposed of rapidly and efficiently. Soon after, they set themselves to the reconstruction efforts of Canterlot, Ponyville, and the other destroyed or heavily damaged towns and villages.

They also went to work on the landscape itself. Craters refilled, crops regrown, and trees replanted, the municipal workers set about their tasks efficiently and rapidly. Watching this restoration was a surreal experience for the ponies; they had already accepted that the land would be forever scarred by the invasion, yet those very scars were being quickly healed before their very eyes. It quickly became clear to the ponies, that the only evidence of the terrible events a little over two weeks ago would be the dearly and forcibly departed friends and family. Equestria was recovering and changing, and it was to these changes that a baby dragon awoke to on a brand new day.

**Λ**

In a bed that was obviously several sizes too large for him, Spike sat up and yawned as he rubbed his eyes and smacked his lips. Once he was finished rousing himself, he examined his room with an excited grin.

Rather than the gray steel and utilitarian furnishings found in military facilities everywhere, Spike's room was designed for civilian living and it showed. The floor was stained hardwood and the walls were wood paneled, complete with blue night-lighting. There was a walk-in closet, which was probably only present because it was standard, as well as a bookcase with books he couldn't read, and a desk with electronics he didn't understand. A glass door led onto a balcony surrounded by self-sufficient gardens and moss-covered sandstone walls.

The home was originally supposed to be made on the border of the Everfree Forest once Erika discovered she was going to be put in charge of the Embassy's security upon its completion. However, Mayor Mare had somehow found out about her plan, and insisted that she build her new home over the plot of the old one. Erika had attempted to cite political reasons for needing her home to be at the Everfree, but the Mayor had actually confronted her in public in an attempt to trap her into building in Ponyville. She succeeded. The townspeople, including her friends, had overwhelmed her with support of the Mayor's proposal, so in the end Erika had agreed simply to escape.

Spike couldn't help but grin at the sight of his massive room; his last 'room' had just been the corner where his basket was. He had to admit, now that he actually had his own room, it was pretty nice, despite the events leading up to it. Spike had been given a sort of catalogue to pick out furnishings for his room, with Erika hovering over his shoulder during the entire selection process. When he had originally picked a bed, Erika had asked why he wanted a dog bed, Spike had told her that it was closest thing to the bed he had in the old house. Erika was less than thrilled with the idea, and had made her position clear by looming over him and growling out "You. Are getting. _A bed_." Afterwards, Spike had left the rest of the house planning to Erika, who, strangely enough, began cussing up a storm at herself. Spike had wisely stayed quiet about the episode and appreciated his new room, while Erika spent several days angrily muttering to herself.

Finally on his feet, the little dragon walked out of his room and down the hall to the master bedroom, Erika's room. He stood in front of the door knocked.

"I'm downstairs, Spike!" Erika's shout echoed up from the stairs.

Spike quickly turned and darted down the stairs and into the living room, which had a plant and water motif with pictures of sunny coastlines and lush forests. The large plush couches, soft enough to be beds themselves, and the glass tables were nice touches as well. Spike recalled Erika saying she was still waiting on a reception for the 'Teevee,' but didn't really know what she was talking about.

Spike announced his arrival at the kitchen with claws clicking on a linoleum floor. The kitchen differed from the rest of the home, it had a black and white tile floor, white tile walls, black marble tabletops, stained wood cabinets, and gray stainless steel utilities. It looked very utilitarian, but still had the feel of a home. There was a glass table with gray steel legs and matching chairs for meals, the house had a dining room as well, but that was mostly for entertaining guests. There was a large window that doubled as a door next to the table, giving a grand view of a nearly overgrown tropical garden with a fountain in the center.

Twilight sat at the table, happily munching away at a bowl full of mixed flowers. She looked away from the hologram in front of her and turned to Spike.

"Good morning, Spike. I got some mixed gems for you." Erika said with a smile before tilting her head and gave Spike a studying look. "I think you've gotten bigger Spike."

"Really?" Spike put a clawed hand just over his green crest as he took a seat. "How much bigger?"

"I don't really know." Erika answered with a shrug before turning back to her holo. "You just look… bigger."

"Hmmm… oaky." Spike shrugged as well and began to dig into his gems.

Erika couldn't help but watch him out of the corner of her eye as he ate. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, it didn't matter to Spike as he tossed gems into his hungry maw. Those stones were a fraction as strong as her armor and the little dragon ate them like they were fruits. It made her wonder just how strong his jaws were, as well as wonder if he could bite past her armor and into her flesh.

Shaking these slightly troubling thoughts from her head, for now at least, Erika turned back to her own meal. She wasn't all that eager to have flowers and the like at first, having grown up in a society where omnivores and carnivores composed most of the sapient population. But she had been getting these strange cravings for Equestrian food, and to be frank, she was tired of tasteless nutrient paste. So she had bought a daffodil and daisy sandwich and hesitantly took a bite, preparing for both the horrid taste of daffodils, and readying a medical kit to flush the toxins from her system. But to her shock, she found the sandwich to be delightful and immediately got another, figuring that Equestrian daffodils were different from her universe's daffodils.

A thought accrued to Erika as she chewed on a rose bud. A promise she had made to a certain shy yellow pegasus the day before.

"Spike, could you come with me to the store later today?" Erika asked.

"Sure Erika, what are we going to get?" Spike stuck a claw between his teeth to pick out bits of gems.

"Spike, use a toothpick." Erika lightly chastised. "I promised Fluttershy that I'd help her out today at that little animal shelter of hers. Since all I'm doing right now is waiting for things to happen, I have time. The first thing we need to do is get to the store, like I said, and get supplies for the animals with omnivore and herbivore diets."

"And then?" "Well, we bring the food to Fluttershy and help her gather food for the carnivores." Erika answered simply as she tossed the last flower bud into her mouth.

"Wait… does that mean we have to…" Spike's expression became very strained as his imagination began to run wild. "Hunt deer for their meat?"

"Don't worry Spike. We won't be doing anything that 'extreme'." Erika smiled reassuringly, which had the added bonus of also hiding her amusement at his reluctance to hunt. "Fluttershy said she has a special trap in the river set up to catch fish for the meat eaters. She also mentioned she wouldn't mind if we helped her dig up bugs and worms for birds, rodents, and the like."

"Wait, wait, wait… _Fluttershy_ fishes?" Spike asked incredulously. "The most introverted pegasus I know catches live fish and KILLS them, so she can feed them to other animals?!"

"Well yes." Erika replied in a matter of fact tone. "How else is she supposed to feed them? Fluttershy isn't going to offer them her own leg after all, and you know what kind of person she is, she won't turn them away. And when we get down to it, out of all the animals on this world, fish are some of the few that rely purely on natural instinct to live their day to day lives. Long story short they are creatures unable to comprehend the world beyond their rivers and lakes, and are incapable of the very idea of comprehension in its most basic form."

"Okay, okay…" Spike raised his hands in a placating manner. "It was just hard to think of her harming… well anything. Ever."

"Never judge a book by its cover, Spike." Erika stated in response, causing the little dragon to snort, and Erika to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Anyways, we should head to the store now and get the food Fluttershy needs." Erika left her seat and began walking out of the room.

Spike followed closely behind, until he noticed that she was going to leave the house through the front door.

"Wait, don't you think we ought to make a list of what we need before we leave?"

"It's just animal feed Spike." Erika replied as she stood in front of the door. "I hardly think we are going to suddenly forget what birds and animals eat."

"I know, but it's better to be prepared." Spike answered before darting back up the stairs to his room. A few moments later he came back down with a roll of parchment, an inkwell, and a quill, much to Erika's chagrin.

"Spike, I got you a digital notepad for a reason you know." Erika stated with an unamused frown.

"I-I'm still having trouble trying to get it to work, okay…" Spike turned away in embarrassment before dipping his quill and quickly writing out a list.

"Let's see…We'll need some alfalfa, barley, maybe a couple dozen turnips, oats…" Spike stuck the nib of his quill in his mouth as he thought up a few other things to add to the list. "Birdseed definitely, corn millet, wheat to give them something different for once, soybeans, throw in some rutabagas because we have the bits, oh and can't forget all the different fruits… aaaand done. Well, what do you think Erika?" Spike turned his list over and showed the violet unicorn.

Erika gave the list a glance over before nodding and turning away. "Looks good Spike, come on now, there are only a few places that have reopened, and I want to beat the rush." Spike gave disappointed frown and began rolling up his parchment when Erika came to a complete stop just in front of the door.

The Warmage stood in place silently for a moment, before slowly turning around to face Spike with an uncertain frown on her face.

"…Spike, could you hand me that list for a moment?" Erika asked with an outstretched hoof. "I want to have a look."

Spike scratched his head in slight confusion. "Didn't you just do that?"

"Yes… but I want to have a _better_ look, now hand it over." The unicorn gestured sharply with her hoof towards the parchment.

"Errr… sure thing, Erika." Spike said as handed the parchment over.

With the parchment held between both front hoofs, Erika began mouthing the words silently as she read. The Warmage stared the list over, and proceeded to do so again and again, reading it three times before seeming satisfied.

"Like I said, looks good. Right, let's get going!" Erika stated cheerfully as she 'pocketed' the list and walked outside.

Spike simply stood in place with a pleased smile on his face. While Erika was reading the list, he noticed something beginning to happen to her expression; the corner of her lips shifted into a slight smile. There was only one pony Spike knew of that got enjoyment from something as mundane and boring as reading over a list.

_'One step at a time!'_ The baby dragon thought to himself happily as he followed Erika out the door and closed it behind him.

**Λ**

Sitting up in a medical chair, Octavia, the cello player of a well-known quartet, looked down with unbridled curiosity at the shoulder socket where her right foreleg had been torn out. What had once been an unsightly mass of scar tissue was now the location of the gleaming azure cybernetic socket for her artificial leg. Today was the day she was to get an artificial limb from one of the Apothecaries the Empire had brought in. She had come in and been anesthetized just ten minutes ago, and now she was staring at the union of flesh and steel that would be her new leg.

They were in a prefabricated building just outside Canterlot; it was entirely white steel, and looked like a box from the outside. It consisted of a waiting room attached to a long corridor, with rooms for the Apothecaries branching off. In a word, it was utilitarian, and Octavia thought it was fascinating.

"Miss Octavia?" The Apothecary's voice brought her out of her musings. He was young, short, and mousey looking with bleached white hair. "I have two potential new legs for you to choose."

Octavia arched an eyebrow and asked curiously. "Why two?"

"Well…" He turned to the table beside him; it held two metallic pony legs, front right ones specifically.

"This one…" He started, pointing to the left one. "Works just like how a flesh and blood pony leg should, even replicating your ability to pick up things with just its hoof. But that feature is still experimental and is very buggy; sometimes it picks up what you intended to, other times, it picks more than what you want, or tries to pick up the surface the object is sitting on as well."

"So you see the problem?" He asked the gray mare and got an understanding nod.

"Now this one…" He walked over and picked up the leg on the right. "This one also works like how a pony leg should. But it can't pick up things like you other hooves can, instead…"

The Apothecary's hands began to glow a soft white, and instantly, the hoof of the leg changed. In a flash of movement, and flipping and shifting metal plates, the hoof was replaced by a metal azure hand.

"Instead, the hoof transforms into a hand." He stated before placing the leg back on the table, where it reverted to its original form. "Also, because you don't naturally have hands, should you choose this leg, you will have to have some nano-machines inserted into your brain to make the connections needed to operate the hand. It's safe, but it will take some time before the hand will be operable. That's everything, so I'll leave the choice of leg to you."

Octavia stared evenly at the two artificial legs on the table. She was a very practical and logical pony, who had the great luck of getting into a profession that she enjoyed and made use of her talent. Naturally, she considered being used as a wishbone by two Astral pirates as the most traumatic and painful point in her life; it was also the most depressing point. She was not a unicorn, so she could not continue her profession without both legs; her injury meant the end of her career. She took her fate as calmly and stoically as she could, after all, she would not allow herself to roll over and break down, unlike ponies. But when she heard that these Atlanteans could give her a perfectly functional artificial leg, and eventually regrow her old one, she was understandably joyful. And no, despite what Vinyl may say, she was most certainly did not jump for joy, squealing like a school filly when she got the news.

So being the practical pony that she was, Octavia could easily see hundreds of situations during her career where having a leg with gripping problems would be catastrophic. To Octavia, the choice was so obvious that it almost wasn't a choice.

"I will take the leg with the hand please." Octavia said.

"The practical type eh?" The Apothecary commented as he lifted and approached Octavia with the leg.

"Now I should warn you." He said as he kneeled in front of her. "The leg will run a diagnosis of the new nervous connections once it's attached. It'll start twitching and go into uncontrollable spasms, but only temporarily, prepare yourself."

Octavia nodded and took in a breath as the Apothecary attached the leg with a small click. Other the sudden head rush she got when the leg was attached, nothing happened at first, then the mechanical arm started to shake. The shaking grew and grew as Octavia felt feeling slowly appear in the metal leg. Eventually the arm began to spasm alarmingly and the endbeganrapidly switching between hand and hoof. Eventually, the shaking stopped and Octavia was left with a tingling in her head as she slowly and unsteadily moved her new leg about.

"Okay, now I want you to slowly and carefully stand on the floor." The Apothecary urged softly as he stood beside her, ready to catch her should she stumble.

The gray mare nodded and carefully slid off the chair with her back legs first. Then she brought her left foreleg on the floor,leaving the replacement limb on the chair. At last, she brought the other leg down, and finally, after two long weeks, Octavia stood on all four legs without any kind of assistance. Then her new leg gave out and dropped her to the floor.

"Careful." The Apothecary placed a steadying hand on her shoulder and helped her back up. "Your mind needs time to acknowledge the fact you have a leg again. Though you should regain the ability to walk normally fairly quickly with assistance from the machines in your head . Now, take a step forward."

And Octavia took a step, a clumsy, shaky step. It was fairly slow, as any kind of speed would cause her new leg to get a step behind and she would end up tumbling head over hooves. Eventually, after lots of falls and tumbles, Octavia was able to stumble along at walking pace.

"How do I use the hand?" She asked, looking at her azure hoof.

"It's as simple as thinking about it." The Apothecary replied. "But it will only be available when you are completely at ease with your leg. It'll probably be usable when you can run without fear of tripping over your own leg."

Octavia nodded in understanding and reached out with her metallic. "Thank you, good sir. Thank you for giving me my career and life's joy back." She said earnestly.

He smiled widely and shook her hoof. "Your appreciation is very much welcome Miss Octavia. Have a very good day." He said as she stumbled out the door.

Octavia walked down along the hall carefully, very wary of her metal leg. She arrived in the large waiting room where dozens of ponies were waiting to be called,and at least as many stood outside waiting for more seats to be freed up. The musical pony searched across the room with her purple eyes, looking for a certain white coated unicorn with an electric blue mane.

She found her. Vinyl Scratch was half sitting, half lying on the seat, with her sun glasses on her forehead, as she read a magazine and nervously twitched her back hoof, a small dark red book lay on the coffee table next to her seat. Octavia stumbled over until she stood in front of her disk jockey friend.

"I'm finished Vinyl." Octavia stated simply.

"Tavi!" Vinyl shouted and leapt off her seat and pulled Octavia into a hug. "Are you okay?! He didn't hurt you did he?!"

Octavia rolled her eyes at Vinyl's worry. "This again Vinyl? If the Atlanteans wanted to hurt us, they could have at any point in the past weeks. Instead they began helping the moment they arrived; case in point, the fact that you and I are alive and well thanks to the timely rescue by group of their mages. Also they give me my career back by giving me a new leg." Octavia lifted her left and gestured to her metallic one, which began to shake under the strain of holding her up.

"Looks like shoddy work to me." Vinyl commented with a frown as she took in the leg.

"That is mostly me, Apothecary said it would take time for my mind to get used to the fact I have a leg again."

"Yeah, he says." Vinyl said doubtfully.

"Vinyl…" Octavia shook her head slightly.

"I don't get why you keep defending them Tavi!" Vinyl retorted with a little amount of heat in her voice, though Octavia made sure to note that it wasn't directed at her. "I mean sure they saved us… and… but…" Vinyl stopped to collect her thoughts when it became apparent her line of thinking was making her out to be the villain in this conversation, and the fact that the surroundings ponies very pointedly ignoring them only cemented that.

"Vinyl… what's wrong?" Over the last two weeks,Vinyl had become noticeably aggressive and distrustful whenever the Atlanteans were mentioned. It was getting to the point where she was purposefully ignoring them or giving them the cold shoulder whenever one tried to talk to her.

"It's… it's just, they are so violent… and scary…" Vinyl whispered.

"There has to be more to it than that Vinyl," Octavia urged her friend softly.

"… There is," Vinyl answered with a nod

"Well… shall we go somewhere more private?" Octavia gestured around the crowded room with her azure hoof. "This isn't exactly the best place for a heart to heart."

"Sure thing, Tavi." Vinyl turned around and levitated her saddlebags from behind her seat, she then turned and picked up the red book on the coffee table and stuffed it into her bags. Octavia managed to read the title written in gold letters before it went into the bag, The Art of Magical Combat, by Silver Light. Vinyl turned back towards her seat and levitated Octavia's saddle bags and settled them over her own,grunting lightly from the extra weight.

"Vinyl-" Octavia tried to object.

"Don't start, Tavi." Vinyl interrupted firmly as she walked towards the exit. "You might have a new leg, but in my opinion, it's not a very good one." Octavia wanted to argue, but decided that this wasn't a battle she would win, and simply allowed Vinyl to carry both of their bags as she stumbled along after her.

As she followed her friend, Octavia began to ponder about her. Vinyl had been with her on that fateful day. In fact, she had tried to defend them both with her magic, but outside of the Royal Guard, unicorns rarely used their magic for anything beyond mundane tasks. Vinyl had struggled to send just one pirate flying away while the others swarmed towards them.

The pirates had quickly restrained the both of them, and would give Vinyl a quick whack to the head whenever her horn began to glow. She had been forced to sit and watch as two pirates took a hold of Octavia's forelegs and began pulling them apart. Octavia couldn't help but scream out in agony as she felt both her shoulders dislocate and her right arm tear out. Octavia had lost consciousness from blood loss and shock almost immediately, and when she woke up, she was surrounded by a squad of Warmages, with a bag of white liquid pouring into her bloodstream via a needle and tube going into her remaining fetlock.

Afterwards, Octavia found herself experiencing the novelty of switched roles. When it came to her and Vinyl, Octavia was the one that usually had to pull Vinyl back whenever it seemed like the wild DJ was going to end up hurting herself, while Vinyl had a devil-may-care attitude and was always up for a good time. It often seemed like she only needed two hours of sleep and a cup of coffee to be raring to go. But after the invasion,Vinyl became Octavia's caretakers, while Octavia was focused on trying to learn how to live with only three legs.

It had been a long two weeks. While she did not go out of her way to hurt herself, Octavia most certainly did not stop trying to walk, even after falling over literally for the hundredth time. However the novelty of the situation quickly wore off, and Octavia was quick to note that Vinyl was practically smothering her with her over the top care. She found her friend's worry, and the amount of effort she put in to making sure was alright, deeply touching, but frankly, Octavia was quite capable of using the little filly's room by herself, thank you very much.

Vinyl and Octavia left the building and moved to the back where no oneelse was around.

"Now that we are alone, do still want to talk about it?" Octavia asked and got a nod.

"It was the Atlantean that saved us." Vinyl Scratch started.

"The group?"

"No, you weren't conscious for this, the group didn't arrive till later." Vinyl said with a shake of her head. "When those Astralstore your leg off in front of me, all I could do was scream and get angry. I was sure they were going to do the same thing to me… then _he_ arrived."

"Who?"

"The Atlantean." Vinyl answered softly. "One minute the pirates were laughing and mocking me,and the next they were screaming. He came flying out of nowhere, with glowing dark purple eyes and massive claws with dark purple flames coming off of them. He wasn'twearing a helmet, so I could see his wide, crazed eyes as he tore them apart."

"He… he tore them open and cut off limbs." Vinyl swallowed audibly as she remembered the event vividly. "They wouldn't die quickly because his flames would seal their wounds, so they just lay on the ground and screamed and screamed and screamed."

"And… do you know what he did next." Vinyl asked Octavia who could only shake her head, transfixed by the tale. "He started laughing. They were on the ground in pieces, begging to die, and he just laughed at them. "

"Dear Celestia it was so horrible!" Vinyl exclaimed as she choked back horrified tears. "He tore up some of them, still laughing like it was the funniest joke in the world, and then startedcutting them, but he didn't kill any of them, he just tortured thm. Then he suddenly stopped and turned towards me."

"He looked at me with those terrible, wild, glowing eyes of his." Vinyl gazed into Octavia's eyes with her own,wide with fright. "His eyes were as wild as fire and he had this horrible manic smile on his face as he stared at me. He looked at me and I thought I was going to die, Tavi! I thought he was going to cut off my legs and start playing with me next! I started crying and wished I had told my mom and dad I loved them the last time I saw them, and I prayed that you wouldn't wake up when he started to play with you next… then he said he was bored and leapt away…"

"… Just like that?" Octavia said quietly.

"Just like that." Vinyl repeated. "He just said he was bored and left, just like how a little colt would say it when he got tired of a game."

"A moment later, the group of Warmages you woke up to arrived." Vinyl continued. "At first I thought they were all going to be as bad as him, but they acted like professionals and talked to me with calm voices. So I told them about that monster."

"… and what did they say?" Octavia urged softly.

"They laughed it off and told me to ignore his antics." Vinyl spat. "'His antics,' they had the nerve to call that brutality antics! The rest of them aren't as bad,they're worse! They just downplayed what that monster did, and acted like it was all part of a game while they took care of you. I mean, I could understand and eventually accept if he just killed them, they were trying to kill both of us after all, and they tore your leg off…"

"But he didn't, he tortured them to death and he… and he…" Vinyl panted and shook her head as she just stopped talking.

Octavia didn't waste a moment and walked forward and wrapped her friend in a hug. Vinyl returned the hug gratefully and they stayed like that for several quiet minutes. Eventually Octavia released her friend but placed both hooves on her shoulders instead and looked her in the eye.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Well… yes, actually, I do." Vinyl replied with a surprised expression.

"Now I understand how this has colored your views on the Atlantean people as a whole, personally I can't help but feel my respect for them decline after hearing this," Octavia said. "But judging an entire civilization on the actions of the few is not right."

"I'm not asking you to change your opinions right now." Octavia stated when she saw Vinyl open her mouth to protest. "I just want you to give the others a chance, okay?"

"I… well… okay…" Vinyl answered hesitantly. "Heh, you're always the rational pony Tavi. How did I ever get a friend like you?"

"Opposites attract." Octavia answered with a smile. "Now that I have my new leg, can we finally go back home to Ponyville? I think our house was relatively untouched according to the last letter I got."

"Sure thing Tavi, Let's go!" Vinyl pumped her hoof into the air and took off towards the road with Octavia stumbling after her.

"… You know…" Octavia started. "We would get there faster if we just took one of those flying ma-"

"NO."

"Fine…"

**Λ**

Even after two weeks of reconstruction, most lunch places in Ponyville were still closed; the most noticeable effect of this was that most ponies had to go home for lunch, leaving the noonday streets almost deserted. This suited a trio of one redheaded Battle Mage and two fillies just fine however, as one of the fillies wasn't ready to be seen yet, for fear of her pride.

Diamond Tiara slowly stumbled along the road on her two new metal legs. She had a look of pure concentration on her face as she focused on trying to make her movements as natural looking as possible. She was making remarkable progress,especially considering the fact that ten minutes ago, she hadn't had enough legs to stand. Zoe and Silver Spoon walked alongside the determined little filly, content to just give her their company and silent support.

Zoe, however, was thinking about the situation concerning the two little mares and decided to break the silence.

"Now I know there aren't that many ponies in town that have the resources, the desire, or the qualifications to raise children right now, but I promised to find a home for you two." Zoe stated. "And I do believe I have met someone that may take you two in with a little cajoling."

Zoe thought of the excitable mint green unicorn and her light yellow earth pony roommate named Bon Bon. The unicorn's name was Lyre, or Lyra, or something like that, which Zoe thought was appropriate, considering the symbol on her flank, and had talked to her endlessly about random human related subjects. What Zoe considered surreal about the whole conversation was how Lyre knew so much about pre-return Atlantis, and Zoe had to spend nearly a half hour convincing the light green unicorn that humanity had not set foot in, let alone seen, Equestria before the invasion two weeks ago.

Though very… eccentric, Zoe could tell Lyre was a decent person overall, and at the very least, Bon Bon, who appeared to be the mothering sort, could help look after the two fillies. Now all Zoe needed to do was figure out a way to break her proposal to them in a manner that would entice the two to take a chance at being parents… easier said than done.

"…Ummm, Zoe?" Silver Spoon asked tentatively.

"Yes, Silver?" Zoe asked absently as she mentally wrote up an early draft in her head.

"Well… I'm just wondering is all, but…" Silver visibly struggled to get out what she wanted to say for a few moments before taking a breath. "Why can't you look after us?"

"WHAT, ME?!" Zoe shouted in shock as she came to a sudden stop. She turned to look at the little filly with wide, disbelieving eyes. "You want me to take you two in and look after you?!"

Silver only nodded wordlessly as Diamond Tiara watched on placidly from the sidelines.

"But, but, but Silver Spoon!" Zoe immediately began to protest. "I can't possibly… I mean, do I look like I could be a good par-… SIL, I'M A KILL…er…"

Zoe tried again and again to say something, anything to dissuade the little, gray filly. But Silver Spoon kept a pleading expression on her face and held her forelegs up in front of her in a begging gesture. While Zoe's last pronouncement did make her wince and cause Tiara to frown distastefully, it ultimately only made her expression become a strange hybrid of pleading and determination.

"… Okay, Sil…" Zoe let out with a sigh after a long pause. "You win; I'll be both yours and Tiara's guardian."

Silver Spoon squealed out an excited 'Yes!' as she suddenly leapt at Zoe, who caught her, and began nuzzling her neck. Zoe couldn't help but smile at the affectionate contact and mentally erased that little draft she had begun and started on something else entirely.

_'Okay, I'm basically a parent now…'_ The Warmage thought with deep uncertainty and then tripped andnearly fell forward as she came to several realizations. _'Damn! I need a place! I can't just keep living in a squad tent with these two with me! I'm going to have to ask Captain Fredrick If I could be permanently garrisoned here! And food! I need food, not that nutrient paste either! I'm going to have to buy locally until services can be established for Atlantean imports! And hygine products! Soaps, body wash, shampoos,plus whatever little fillies need! Damn, I'm going to have to go to the hospital and ask one of the nurses what I'll need! Wait a minute, I don't know what ponies usually eat either! Argggggh!'_

"Tiara!" Zoe said suddenly, making the little filly literally jump and stumble on her landing. "Sorry… you'vebeen pretty quiet, what do you think about all this?"

"Weeeell… I certainly see no problem with it, somepony has to look after us, after all, we are still young fillies." Diamond Tiara said coolly, although Zoe heard a slight happy quaver in her voice. "So yes, I'll accept you as my guardian. B-but I want you to know that this does not make you my mother."

The redheaded Warmage gave a small smile as she held Silver Spoon in her arms. "I'm not going to try to be Tiara, but I will take care of you, both of you, to the best of my ability."

"Now let's head to the town center." Zoe said as she placed Silver back on the ground. "I have to speak with my CO about a few things."

**Λ**

Somewhere in the skies between Cloudsdale and Ponyville, a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane was busy shaping and puffing up a small cloud.

Rainbow Dash floated back a few feet and examined her cloud. It had been a hectic two weeks; allavailable pegasi had been called in to quickly rebuild Cloudsdale, andonce that had been done they began to deal with the incredibly vast cloud cover. The clouds had stretched on for hundreds of miles and had formed a very thick layer, turning what had been a simple task into something arduous and exhausting. But that was then and this was now, after two weeks of gruelling overtime, Rainbow could finally begin settling into her old daily routine. Finding the cloud to be perfect, Dash gave a smiling nod before front flipping onto it. Placing her forelegs behind her head and crossing her hind legs, Rainbow began relaxing for a long deserved nap.

She was almost asleep when she heard low noise getting steadily louder.

_'Huh, what's that?'_ Dash thought to herself sleepily. _'Itsorta reminds me of when I fly really fa-GAAAH!'_

Dash found herself abruptly spinning away from her rapidly dissipating cloud, sent flying by an unseen force. The pegasus quickly righted herself and examined her ruined cloud before noticing that the noise she heard was rapidly fading into the distance. Rainbow turned in the direction of the fading sound and saw an Air Mage become progressively smaller on the horizon. Dash immediately glared daggers at the retreating form before quickly flying after him.

True to form, the cyan coated pegasus had quickly caught up in just over a dozen seconds.

"Hey buddy!" Dash shouted over the rushing winds. "What's your problem huh?! I was just about to sleep when you- Hey!" Dash exclaimed when the Air Mage suddenly pulled ahead of her and rapidly put distance between them.

Rainbow gained a cocky smirk before she began flapping her wings harder. "Oh you wanna race? Fine, let's race!"

Dash quickly caught up to the Air Mage and flew alongside him, flashing him a smirk once she got his attention. The mage replied by pulling ahead in another burst of speed and dipped towards the ground. Rainbow stayed on him, not only catching up, but still keeping pace with him while he dodged and weaved around trees to put obstacles in her way.

Finally the two fliers found themselves flying along the face of the mountain that Canterlot clung to. The two ascended to the very top of the snow covered peak, Dash ignored both dropping temperatures and the quickly thinning air as she fought tooth and hoof to keep pace with the armored mage. The Air Mage managed to pull ahead of the competitive pegasus and quickly reached the peak, where he allowed only his forward momentum to keep him going and quickly back flipped over the mountain top. The mage simply let himselffree-fall once his momentum ran out, and disappeared over the other side of the mountain, with Dash barelythree seconds behind him.

Rainbow saw that the side of the mountain the mage was falling alongside was an almost perfectly vertical wall of sheer rock, which kept on for a few thousand of metres before an incline even appeared. Dash smiled excitedly as she let herself drop as well, but unlike the mage, she decided to spice up her fall a bit.

Further down, the mage saw that he was quickly approaching the incline and prepared to pull out of his fall when he heard a noise that seemed very out of place given the situation, the clopping of hooves on hard rock. He turned his head to give a quick look over his shoulder and saw Rainbow Dash,with her wings outstretched, running along the mountain side and quickly catching up on him.

Now side by side, both Dash and the mage continued to run and fall respectively until they neared the incline. Then the mage began pulling up out of the dive, while Rainbow leapt from the rock face and fought to do the same. Both fliers just managed to pull out of their falls to keep from crashing into the grasslands surrounding the mountain. Then the two had to quickly gain altitude to avoid smashing into a train inbound for Manehattan, just managing to clear the passenger cars with mere inches to spare.

The pair shot straight up streaking past the layer of clouds still in the sky. Then they both flipped over and soared towards Ponyville, orbiting each other in a corkscrew formation the entire way.

The two disengaged each other and began flying next to each other in a straight and steady flight over Ponyville. Dash heard her heart pounding in her ears and could feel it beat in her chest; a wide, excited smile dominated her face as she flew. Rainbow personally considered the current race to be one of, if not the best, one she had ever had , she decided to trash talk her opponent to put the cherry on top of what she knew would be her eventually victory.

"Hey tin head!" The confident pegasusshouted above the wind. "Hope you haven't lost your breath already, because I could keep this up for hours! Ha, I bet you couldn't even keep up with me if it weren't that fancy armor of yours!"

The mage turned his helmeted head to give Dash a glance out of the corner of his visor. Then his armor suddenly began shifting and retracting. Soon enough, the only thing left of his armor was the wings and the cuirass, exposing his crew cut, dark orange hair, eyes of the same shade, fair skin, and the gray flight suit worn underneath, before the wings snapped back into the cuirass, leaving the mage flying on his own power. Without the wings of his power armor,he noticeably slowed down and dropped behind Dash, making her crow with laughter. Her laughter was cut short as the Air Mage suddenly shot ahead and made her gape for a moment, before her smirk returned full force and she shot off after him.

The two blurred across the sky, flying tricks and maneuvers all but forgotten as they focused on simply outdoing the other in raw speed. They flew neck and neck; neither gaining more than a few inches over the other before the distance was closed. Finally Dash had enough of the race and decided to end it in the grandest way she knew.

_'Heh, he's not bad!'_ Rainbow Dash thought to herself. _'He's still no match for me though! Whelp, it's time to leave him eating my dust!'_

"Hey you're not half bad for a guy born without wings!" Dash complimented backhandedly. "When they ask who beat you, tell them, RAINBOW DASH! SIYA!" With that, Dash pumped her wing muscles ever harder and suddenly there was an explosion of colors and a loud boom as Rainbow Dash once more broke the sound barrier.

Her tail and mane now a rainbow trailingbehind her, Dash looked back with a confident smile to see how far behind her competition was. Dash's smile was wiped off her face as she saw that the Air Mage was not behind her, but still flying alongside with an expression of utter concentration on his features. Rainbow almost dropped out of the sky in shock at the sight, before she toobecame almost deadly serious and focused;she would need to go faster.

Dash forced her wings to flap ever harder as she put her complete and total all into the race. Normallywhen Dash entered races, after she became able to Rainboomon command, Dash felt like she was just playing with the professional the moment she went faster than sound, none would be able to catch up to her and the race would be finished. But now when she played her trump card, she not only found herself not winning instantly, but her opponent wasable to match her. For the first time in a long time, Rainbow Dash found herself struggling to win without any kind of handicap, and she loved every moment of it. Dash's competitive spirit soared to titanic heights withthe race, and she would have whooping and shouting in excitement if she were not so focused on winning.

The two fliers were now blurs of color to those who happened to look up at the right time, one of orange, black, and gray, while the other was a rainbow. As they flew over the Everfree, Dash pushed herself ever harder and was now unknowingly going one and a half times faster than sound. But while her spirit was more than willing to go on for longer and faster, her body was not. Rainbow Dash's back muscles suddenly cramped up and caused her to tumble out of the air.

"AHHHHH!" Dash shouted in shock and pain as g-forces strong enough to rip apart the average human playedhavoc on her entire body.

As her world began quickly fading to black, Rainbow suddenly felt herself held in a pair of arms and slowing down at a much more comfortable rate.

"Hn, not bad… for a civvie." A low male voice said.

Dash vaguely recalled hearing somewhere before. She heard it when a Squadron Leader began shouting for Erika to respond over the radio. Then she blacked out.

**Λ**

An unblemished and un-bandaged Celestia ran her tongue along her teeth, glad to have a mouth full of them once more. The Alicorn of the Sun stood in the courtyard of her palace along with her sister Luna, awaiting the arrival of the Atlantean representative. The Empire had requested a proper diplomatic meeting now that things had completely calmed down in Equestria, and the royal sisters were more than happy to agree.

The sound of hammers banging and carts rolling along a stone floor sounded all around the two alicorn sisters. The palace had been undergoing repairs for a week and a half now, and the planned modifications to fortify it would keep it under construction for the foreseeable future.

Finally the two sisters spotted a ship flying towards them from the Sadistic Melody. They could just hear the soft humming of its engines above the sound of construction as it circled around the palace before descending for a landing. As it neared the courtyard, the ship turned its boarding ramp towards the two sisters before landing with a slight cloud of dust. The ramp descended with a small clang and revealed the sole occupant of the ship's hold.

Operative Daniels stepped down the extended ramp in all his intimidating glory. Many on the construction crew paused when the ship landed so they could get a better view of the Atlantean meeting the princesses, but immediately returned to work once they caught a glimpse of the dark visage of the AIB operative. Behind his red-lensed gas mask, Daniels smiled amusedly at the ponies' reactions, before stepping in front of the royal sisters.

"Princesses Celestia and Luna, I am Operative Daniels, the serving representative; I also bring apologies from Emperor Ezekiel for not being able to meet with you personally." Daniels greeted with a polite nod of his head, his voice clear and cheerful. "And I must say, Princess Celestia, you've healed very well since the last time I saw you."

"Hello and welcome, Operative Daniels, to our home." Celestia greeted back before asking in slight confusion. "And I am sorry, but I do not think I remember seeing you before, have we met before?"

"I was at the mass funeral in Ponyville." Daniels answered before adding smoothly, "and please Princess; you may call me Daniels if you wish."

"Well Mr. Daniels, I'm afraid I don't recall seeing you at the event." Celestia replied. "I must have missed you; you weren't standing with the Atlantean officers, were you?"

"No I was not Princess," Daniels said before adding with a chuckle. "And don't worry, you were not the only one to not see me. Now, shall we get on to the diplomacy? The sooner buisness is finished, the sooner we could possibly enjoy some tea."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea for afterwards Mr. Daniels." Celestia smiled magnanimously. "There are so many things I would like to ask you about the Atlantean Empire that I never got to read about in the Gefallen libraries."

"Follow us, Sir Daniels." Luna broke in. "We can talk as we make our way to the study. It's one of the few restored rooms that would be appropriate for this discussion."

Daniels took in the reconstruction as he was flanked by the princesses, and he was mildly impressed. Instead of simply rebuilding the architecture of palace as it was, the support structures were being replaced with plainer, but stronger versions, and that wasn't the only thing he noticed.

"Are those workers of yours setting rebar in the… I'm assuming that's concrete." Daniels asked as he watched a group of ponies set a mold, pour in concrete, set the rebar, and then quickly hardened it with unicorn magic before levitating it away to be placed.

"Yes actually." Celestia answered. "I decided to include some of the newer construction techniques developed in Manehattan. The specialists said they were designed with reinforced towering structures in mind so a specialist construction company was brought in. Admittedly, the supports are detracting from the palace's beauty… but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for protection."

"Yes, I've seen pictures of the handful of other palaces and castles in this land." The Operative commented. "Quite the artistic masterpieces, my congratulation to your people Princess."

"Thank you Mr. Daniels." Celestia smiled at Daniels as their group walked past the construction into a finished hall.

"Just artistic pieces?" Luna suddenly said.

"Hmmm?" Daniels tilted his head questionably at the younger Alicorn.

"Are the castles just artistic pieces to you?" Luna asked ignoring the look Celestia shot her.

"Well…" The Operative began ever happily. "Let me ask you this, Princess Luna. If the magics supporting the structures were removed, how long would the castles hold themselves up?"

"Three months… at the most," Luna answered with a frown after a few quick calculations.

"While undoubtedly beautiful, I'm sorry to say the castles in question would never leave the blueprint stage in Atlantis." Daniels said with a sad shake of his head before explaining. "Building Codes state that designs must be able to stand without magical assistance before they can be approved." Daniels then turned his attention to Celestia. "Princess Celestia, you have seen the scale of Atlantean engineering. When we wish to build big, we don't hold back. I would say it is very reasonable to not want to have a massive building come crashing down because the magical supports flickered off for a moment."

"Yes I agree with you Mr. Daniels, such a catastrophic event should be pre-empted from happening." Celestia said before shooting a quick look to her sister who huffed for a moment before gazing forward neutrally.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the party of three arrived at the study. The royal study had a few bookcases full of tomes, mostly records and fiction, but was a paltry collection compared to the library. A writing desk stood under a large window that stretched to the ceiling, its top covered with parchments, inkwells and quills. Two plush and beautifully embroidered armchairs and a large couch sat around an oak coffee table, with the entire setup itself in front of a marble fireplace, currently unlit. The two alicorns took seats on the couch while Daniels placed his red cloak over the back of an armchair which he settled in.

"Now… to business." The Operative leaned forward and clasped his fingers in front of his masked face. "The Empire is very eager to further relations with Equestria, and to aid in this, we wish to rent land for an embassy."

Celestia nodded her head in agreement of the proposal while her sister watched neutrally. Celestia had already been thinking of appropriately large plots of land within Canterlot that an embassy could be built on. Truthfully though, there had never been an embassy in Canterlot before, foreign ambassadors would come, and then leave when their business was finished, never broaching the idea. Consequently, Celestia had no idea how much space was needed. But, if the embassy plans exceeded the land available, she could always rezone some residential areas, as a few were now unfortunately unoccupied.

"We wish to rent out the whole of the Everfree Forest for the embassy." Daniels announced, shocking Luna and breaking Celestia out of her planning abruptly. "We are willing to pay a large sum of gold for the rent, specifically a twenty cubic meter solid block."

"That… that is an impressive amount of gold Mr. Daniels, but ultimately such a block would be useless; it would be both incredibly heavy and impractical to convert into anything meaningful. We will have to decline such an offer, terribly sorry." Though personally, Celestia considered such an offer more than fair for long term rent of the land, the Everyfree was considered worthless because of the dangerous predators and the poison joke that flourished there. The Princess of the Sun actually felt she was taking advantage of the Atlanteans, even if their opening offer had been effectively useless.

"Yours is a race that is truly enlightened, Princess!" Daniels laughed happily in response. "I don't think anyone has ever actually refused a block of gold before, they're usually too busy trying to ask for more. Like you we think very little of the metal overall, useless scrap metal in my opinion. Now that our offer is refused, what do you propose as a counter-offer, hmm?"

There was silence for a few moments as Celestia considered what she would accept as 'fair'. There were so many things that she had read in the Gefallen Library to consider. Medical, agricultural, technological, and magical advances the likes of which she never imagined, Celestia's mind whirled with the consequences of such advances on her people. Luna chose this moment to suddenly speak up.

"Training." The Moon Princess simply stated, gathering the attentions of both her sister and the Operative.

"What was that Princess Luna?" Daniels asked.

"I want the Empire to train the Royal Guard." Luna thoughts were dominated by the images of the aftermath, hers and her sister's guards slaughtered and butchered on the ground, along with the castle servants they had failed to save. Then the images were replaced with those of Atlantean Warmages standing victorious over vast piles of Astral corpses and Luna knew what she wanted. "I want our people capable of fighting back with more potency in case such a thing like this ever happens again."

"Hmmm…" Daniels leaned back in his armchair and clasped his hands together. "How about… the art of Chi manipulation?"

"And what would that be?" Luna asked.

"Well… Chi is the mystical energies of the mind taking form." The Operative explained. "Now there are many things that can be done with Chi, once properly trained in its use. It's commonly used to increase one's speed, agility, strength, or durability, and can even be used to make energy attacks. And the best part of this art? Anyone can use it; all it takes is a bit of dedication and discipline."

_"Anyone?"_ Luna repeated interest now very peaked.

"Anyone." Daniels clarified. "Granted, this was an art created by humans with the human body in mind, but with a bit of tweaking, and some study of equine anatomy, we should be able to get it ready your people's use."

"I'm very satisfied with this." Luna said with a small smile before turning to her sister.

"… wonderful." Celestia did a near perfect job of hiding her annoyance she was feeling at the moment.

"Do you still feel unsatisfied with the deal Princess?" Daniels asked.

"While I understand the need to better train our military, and know where my sister is coming from on this matter…" Celestia began serenely. "I desire something with more civilian application, namely technological improvement."

"That depends… do you mean us teaching or uplifting your race?" Daniels questioned.

"Teaching, definitely," Celestia answered with a firm nod. "I want my ponies to be able to build technological marvels without needing an Atlantean to supervise them."

"That is no problem." Daniels replied cheerfully as he examined one of the nearby bookcases from his chair. "Princess… I would like access to your library."

Celestia blinked at that. "Why? I don't mean why you wish to see it, I mean why do you ask? The library is open to all who seek knowledge; besides, I can hardly deny you entry when your Emperor allowed me entry to his." Celestia answered with a smile.

"Oh…" Daniels said flatly and then paused for a moment before he hesitantly began. "Princess… a bit off topic, but it is a concern that the Empire wants dealt with."

"What is it?" Celestia asked with a serious expression.

"Discord; you see we are very concerned about such a being." Daniels said softly. "Considering what he has proven capable of, we wish to examine his prison ourselves to ensure he does not escape again."

Celestia nodded understandingly, and even approvingly. "That sounds very reasonable, I'll be glad to allow your specialists to take a look at his prison. You might even be able to improve on it so that he can't break out again."

"… Very gracious of you Princess…" Daniels slouched in his seat a little and began rubbing the area where his temple would be under his mask.

"Is there something wrong Sir Daniels?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No there is nothing wrong; in fact I'm very glad you are allowing this." Daniels reassured with a raised placating hand. "I just remembered something very time consuming, and ultimately unnecessary."

"Anyways!" Daniels' cheerful tone returned full force as he sat back up in his seat. "This is all very wonderful news; Ezekiel will be very pleased with how smoothly this is going. If you can get one of your scribes to write out a document, we can have some tea and I can answer any further questions you have."

"That sounds very wonderful Mr. Daniels." Celestia smiled graciously as she summoned over a parchment and quill to write out a request to one of her staff.

"One last thing, while we are still discussing official matters." The Operative leaned forward in his seat as he looked between the two princesses. "What are your thoughts on a trade agreement?"

**Λ**

Erika wiped a foreleg over her sweating brow; tending to Fluttershy's animals was harder than she expected. They had just returned from giving out food to sick and homebound animals, which Erika found endlessly amusing. Animals had met with them outside their burrows, caves, dens, and roosts, and greeted them like friendly neighbours. The whole thing felt very much like one of those cartoons for little kids, the only things that seemed to be missing was a song and dance number. Hearing a groan, Erika turned looked to her side and saw Spike pouting forlornly at his mud covered hands.

"Awwww… look at my hands, why'd I agree to come again?" Spike asked irritably as he began attempting to scrape mud off his scales.

"Because helping a friend is the right thing to do?" Erika answered with a raised brow.

"I'm sorry Spike, I know digging for worms and bugs can get very messy." Fluttershy's head drooped as she looked at the ground. "I could have done it for you so you didn't have to get your hands dirty."

"But why would we be here if you just did everything yourself?" Erika replied. "We caught the fish and dug up the bugs so you had more time to tend to the animals."

"Yeah, we're here to help. Sorry for complaining Fluttershy, it's just that I get so itchy when dirt gets caught in my scales." Spike said as he began to scratch.

"Hmmm…" Fluttershy lifted a hoof to her mouth as she pondered something. "Wait one moment Spike, I'll be right back." Before anyone could respond, she turned and ran into her house.

"Itch, itch, itch… what, this isn't funny you know!" Spike said when he spotted the wide smile Erika was shooting him.

In response Erika simply shook her entire body like a dog. Immediately, violet sparks began appearing all over her body and the sound of buzzing electricity filled the air. When the sparks disappeared, she was standing in her now pristine uniform coat, and the mud, dirt, and sweat gone from her body.

"Oh yeah I forgot you could do that." Spike commented as he continued to scratch. "Come on! A little relief here would be appreciated!"

"… You're fireproof right?" Erika asked with a blank expression.

"What? Yeah I'm fireproof I'm a dragon after- HEY!" Spike exclaimed when he suddenly began floating in the air. "Erika, what are you doing!"

"Weeeell I don't want to set Fluttershy's yard on fire by accident soooo…" Erika drawled.

"What you mean by- gah!" Spike shouted in alarm when a wave of violet flames flowed over him, before relaxing and releasing a contented sigh. "Ahhh, this must be what lava bath feels like. Thanks Erika!"

Spike gave a thumbs-up from within the violet blaze as Erika continued to blow a constant stream of flames from her mouth. A moment later, Fluttershy emerged from her house with a bucket of water and a white towel. The shy pegasus took one look at the aflame baby dragon and gasped, releasing the bucket from her mouth and spilling all the water.

"OH MY GOSH!"

Erika quickly turned her head towards Fluttershy to see what was wrong, only to see Fluttershy, standing there with a shocked expression. The commotion also broke her concentration, and she let Spike go without thinking.

"AHHH!" The little dragon gave a quick shout before landing headfirst in the dirt, his head crest sinking in and causing him to become a little stuck.

"Is there something the matter Fluttershy?" Erika asked as she walked over and tugged Spike out of the ground by pulling on his legs.

"Oh… I'm sorry. I guess I forgot that dragons like fire." Fluttershy replied before letting out a short squeaking laugh when she saw Spike.

"What?" Spike asked with a rather large ball of dirt stuck atop his crest.

Face kept completely blank, Erika motioned to the top of Spike's head. "You have a little something on your…"

Thinking there was something small on his crest Spike quickly attempted to brush it off, only to cause the dirt to break into pieces and fall all over him.

"Ugggh… nice…." Spike deadpanned.

"Heh, come on Spike." Erika nodded towards Fluttershy's house. "Let's get you cleaned up again."

"It's not funny…" Spike muttered as he followed.

"I'll… I'll get the shower ready." Fluttershy said as she picked up her dropped bucket and towel.

The three were almost inside when a soft thud sounded behind them. Behind them, a Warmage with orange hair and eyes, wearing a gray flight suit and his un-deployed power armor was standing there holding something in his arms. After a moment, they realized that he was holding Rainbow Dash, who was unconscious.

"Ohmygoshohmygosh!" Fluttershy bounded forward and stood in front of the Warmage with wide concerned eyes. "What happened, is she okay?!"

"She is fine," the Warmage replied calmly. "If it were serious, I would have brought her to the hospital. She just pushed herself a bit too hard and got a bad muscle cramp, she…" The mage's words died off as Fluttershy took Dash from his arms and quickly darted inside her house with the comatose pegasus.

"Hmmm." The mage hummed, he turned towards Erika and nodded at her. "Sparkly."

"Richards." Erika greeted back before turning back and walking inside after Fluttershy.

In the few seconds she was out of sight, Fluttershy had already laid Dash on her stomach on the couch, placed a soaked cloth on her forehead, applied a sort crème to her back, and was now rubbing it in with a determined expression on her face. Spike stood close by, watching the whole process curiously.

Erika turned back towards the doorway and saw Richards kneeling down and just managing to fit in the doorframe.

"What happened?" She asked him.

"I was flying somewhere between Cloudsdale and Canterlot when she comes speeding to my side and complains about sleep." Richards began. "So I ignored her and flew away. She catches up to me again, so I start trying to shake her off. Eventually she challenged me to a race without my armor active, which I accepted. She broke the sound barrier, and from what I've seen of other pegasi, they shouldn't be capable of such speeds, but she proved otherwise. Soon after, she hit her limits and cramped up, but I caught her before she could hit the ground. I was expecting her to be suffering fatal internal bleeding at the very least, but she only had a few bruises. So seeing that she was only cramped up and exhausted, I brought her here."

"Heh, Dash has always been competitive." Erika remarked with a smile as she looked at said comatose pony. "She'll probably start actively hunting you down for a rematch when she recovers and trains up a bit."

"Let her." Richards replied simply. "Such skill in a non-Atlantean, and at her age, is incredible. I'll race her again and again, and each time, I'll make little suggestions about a change in career path."

Erika quickly caught up to what he was planning. "I doubt that Celestia would let one of her subjects join a foreign military. Then there's the potential conflict of loyalties and interests…"

"Hmpf, that's true for now, but for how long will that be a problem? I might as well start on her now in preparation for the future." Richards answered softly with a glance at the others in the house. "I'll see you later Sparkly."

As Richards flew away, Erika stood absolutely still, going over what he just said again and again. Atlantis had a long history of expansion, and absorbing neighbouring nations was a large part of that. It wasn't really surprising that Equestria would be desired by the Empire, but she hadn't really thought about it until now. Normally, Erika wouldn't have been bother by this, but for whatever reason, Erika the fact that her birth world would eventually be consumed by the one that adopted her very troubling. Somewhat lost in thought, Erika turned towards Fluttershy, who was still rubbing crème into Dash's back and muttering just loud enough to be heard.

"Oh Dashie why do have to push yourself so hard?" Fluttershy frowned worriedly as she continued to loosen the tight knots in her friend's back. "What's the point of being the best if getting there hurts you?"

With a short sigh Erika, closed the door to Fluttershy's house and walked over to the worried pegasus. She decided that worrying about politics was a bit above her pay grade, and put it aside for now. For now, she would just get Spike into Fluttershy's shower, as he was dropping bits of dirt all over her floor.

…She really hoped she would not regret her decision however.

**-TBC-**


	16. Chapter 13 : Proper Reunion

_"I've always needed time on my own…"_

Erika hummed and nodded her head in time with the music she was listening to through the wireless bud in her ear. It was an old song, practically an ancient relic to place on display in a museum, but a childhood spent with her father and around AIs caused her to pick up their love of old things. AI Leet was exceptionally influential in that regard. Erika was thankful that was the only influence Leet had on her; that AI was such a crazy pervert.

Erika was currently in her kitchen, having finished her breakfast of hay and flower buds she was planning. Several holographic screens floated above the table in front of her, each one displayed information or maps of the Everfree and the ruins that sat at its heart. Operative Daniels had contacted her the day before, just after she got back from Fluttershy's, and told her she was cleared to start securing Everfree for the embassy. So now she was setting up patrol routes in the forest that had the secondary objective of evicting dangerous creatures, which were living too close to the ruins, as well as several spots where outposts and other facilities were going to be put up. She was also putting together a team of Warmages to clean out the ruins itself for the builders to begin restructuring the place.

_'Hmmm… who would best suit?'_ Erika thought to herself. _'Likely Vinzenz, his fire Assault Mages would clear out the place quickly.'_

"Ugh…" Spike groaned out. He was also at the table, but had a large pile of papers before him. It was the homework Erika had assigned him, and he was not having a very fun time trying to work it out. "Come on Erika! Can't I at least get something easier? This stuff is like three times as hard as the homework I'd get before!"

"Now, now, Spike." Erika admonished absently. "Algebra is not that bad, you just find x and you're done."

"… Right there, found it." Spike deadpanned as he tapped the little x on the piece paper.

Erika rolled her eyes in response. "Like that hasn't been used before."

"Really though, this is so hard." Spike complained as scratched his head. "You've had to explain to me how to get the answer like ten times already."

"Well look at it this way, Spike." Erika began "You'll only have to endure this particular difficulty until that requisition for a neural codex uploader goes through, than you won't have to worry about remembering how to get the answer."

"So I won't have to do this ever again when that gadget gets in?" The little dragon asked hopefully.

"Well… yes and no," Erika answered. "You don't have to worry about remembering how to get the answer, but you'll still have to do school work like this to determine your skill level at it."

"Oh…" Spike responded dejectedly as he refocused on his work.

Erika shook her head amusedly as she began putting finishing touches on her own work, and then there was a knock at the door.

Erika closed her holograms and left her seat to answer the door. She opened the door to the living room when a crude spring loaded arm suddenly appeared out of nowhere and smashed a lemon meringue pie in her face. She stood stock still as the tin and most of the pie dropped to the floor, the sound of snickering could be heard clearly.

"…Spike." She began.

"Hey now!" Spike said quickly. "I was here with you the entire! I don't even know where to start with making the arm!"

Suddenly the front door opened as whoever was knocking decided to come in.

"The fellow is telling the truth little Einhorn," her visitor said as he entered the house and quickly gathered up the pie from the floor and Erika's face with his blue fiery magic. Which he began eating readily with a spoon he pulled from his silver cuirass. "Mm, some good pie here! That was me with the arm and the pie by the way, if you were wondering."

"Conrad!" Erika greeted her older brother happily despite having just got a face full of pie.

"Hey there!" Conrad greeted back. "The ole' pie-in-the-face gag, a nice ancient one that never gets old."

"Ancient?" Spike asked confusedly.

"As in, old enough for cultural historians to put on record," Conrad explained. "I'd say it's well over a thousand years old by now."

"So when did you come in?" Erika asked her older brother. "Did they finally get the Astral invasions under enough control that you could visit?"

"Basically, yeah," Conrad answered with a nod. "They got them all down to a few large clumps of tears. The tears are very dense though and some particularly dangerous Courts are coming out of them. I think the Golem Legions and Warmages are going to be hung up on them for a good while, even with most of the Combat PMDs deployed."

"How are the afflicted planets?" Erika asked seriously.

"They could be better." Conrad replied with a shrug before changing the subject. "So, the home of your actual birth! What was that like? Did you find out you had a lover that just couldn't bear to be with you the way you are now?"

Erika and Spike snorted at that. "No, though that would have been incredibly awkward, as well as cliché."

"When I first arrived I couldn't help but be disturbed at the destruction this place suffered." She continued. "I've seen devastation on Atlantean worlds before, but seeing something like that here just struck a visceral chord in me. As annoying as it was to freeze up in combat because of these emotions, they did help me push myself to fight and kill another Astral Lord."

"Yeah I heard about that!" Conrad said eagerly. "You managed to beat an Astral Lord all by your lonesome with just a squad to help! The last one you fought you had to have your entire company attack him from all sides and get air and orbital support to pound him from above. You've gotten stronger little sis!" Conrad said while nudging his sibling with his elbow.

"Dumber is more likely." Erika retorted. "The reason I killed the first one at all was because I used all the resources I had available to take him down as fast as possible. This one I just charged right in and almost got me, my squad, and the Princesses killed."

"Whoa, slow down there buzz kill!" Conrad said as he raised his hands. "Now I admit you could have lured him out in the open for orbital support. But Astral Lords are fast! If he wasn't going to play game with the luring strategy then none of you were going to run out of that room. He'd charge right after you and batter you back in there!"

"True…" Erika admitted with a reluctant nod. "So what are you here for Conrad?"

"Oh just came to visit my little sister, mom says hi by the way, and wanted to see what this place was like." He replied, waving grandly all around him. "Pretty great so far, did you know that bakery is actually made out of pastries? Don't know how they keep the thing soft and fresh let alone keep it from getting all moldy. And I just met this cute little pink pony that makes an awesome organic fruit punch!"

"Conrad… everything is organic here. They don't have the tech to fabricate foods like we can. They just grow them as is."

"Oh… still awesome though." Conrad said as he stroked his chin in thought. "Think I'll find that pony's shop to have some more…"

"So how long will you be staying for?" Erika asked. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"Ehhh… I figured I'd stick around until they called for me." Conrad answered with a shrug. "And I thought I'd just crash here."

"Well of course you can Conrad." The violet unicorn smiled up at her brother. "There is a guest bedroom upstairs. I'll just make its all ready for you and-"

She was interrupted as Spike let loose a loud flaming burp. He caught the letter as it appeared before him and yelped as he noticed green flames licking at his hard work and began patting them down quickly. Once his little emergency had passed Spike gave the letter a quick once over before holding it out towards Erika.

"Erika, it's from you brother," He said to her.

Erika looked up at a confused Conrad Gefallen.

"Uhhhh… it's from your brother Shining Armor." He clarified.

Erika blinked and simply remarked 'Oh…' as she took the letter in her hooves and began to read, with Conrad peering unashamedly over her shoulder to read along.

"Dear Erika." The letter began. "It's me Shining Armor, your brother. Her majesty Princess Celestia informed me of your need for time before finally meeting each other, and it has been two weeks. Forgive me if this feels demanding, but the last time I saw you we were interrupted by a life threatening situation, and I simply wish to meet and acquaint myself with the mare my sister has become. Please reply with a time we could meet. Preferably on a close date, I could meet you this afternoon if you feel up for it." The letter finished with signing off. "Love, your brother. Shining Armor."

"Ohhhh, Little Einhorn's pony birth brother!" Conrad remarked excitedly. "I want to meet him!"

"Ummm, are you sure you want to, Conrad?" Erika asked him. "It could be boring and all."

While Erika loved Conrad and was always happy to meet him, he tended to annoy other people with his practical jokes. He never hurt anyone, and was never cruel with his pranks, but he took a while to get bored of a target. So his victims usually had to deal with the odd month filled with random firecrackers going off and a near constant barrage of pies coming at them from all angles. So she was understandably hesitant to bring Conrad along to the royal palace where no doubt some stuffy nobles would get his attention and he would start causing havoc.

Then again, he was her brother and he tended to somehow rope her in to help with his pranks every time he asked her. She always considered herself the eldest of the two mentally, but no matter what, she would always tag along to help her older brother set up some crazed monstrosity of a prank trap just to catch one specific person and have him covered in who knows what at the end. So if he wanted to come along she would just bring him, simple as that.

"Pfft, if I get bored I'll just go and make my own fun!" Conrad replied cheerfully.

And that was all there was to it.

"Okay then." Erika said as she turned back to Spike. "Spike, could you write a response to Armor telling him I'll meet him this afternoon? And tell him I'll be bringing along a member of my family for him to meet as well."

"Sure thing Erika." The little dragon replied before taking a spare piece of parchment from under the math work he was doing and proceeded to write out a short response letter.

"Well I'll just go check the guest bedroom and make sure it's clean and ready to be used." Erika said before heading out of the kitchen and upstairs to said room.

Conrad stood in the kitchen, stroking his chin in thought as he watched the little baby dragon. Spike finished his letter and set it aflame with green fire which than sailed out an open window.

"There we go, sent." Spike announced before turning back to his math problems with a sigh.

A conniving smile appeared on Conrad's face when he saw the way Spike sent the letter before it turned into a friendly one as he approached and offered his help.

**Λ**

Ponyville had changed since the invasion and subsequent arrival of the Atlanteans. Before the invasion, the homes of Ponyville were of the thatch and plaster sort, barring a few obvious exceptions. Naturally these sorts of homes were very flammable and tended to prove that fact with the slightest ember. While Ponyville did have a fire department of sorts, they could be excused for not doing their jobs when needed to, given the circumstances . As such, nearly every home in Ponyville suffered some degree of fire damage, ranging from structural instability to outright destruction; the ponies of the disaster-prone town were faced with the prospect of rebuilding from the ground up. Thankfully for them the Atlantean municipal mages were not only willing, but also eager to build the homes for them once they finished the landscaping. The worker mages waved off the design plans for the pony homes almost as soon as they took a glance at them; instead they proposed roomy hardwood homes with shingle roofs.

Mayor Mare was reluctant at first, explaining that she did not exactly have a very large budget and wasn't sure she would be able to afford the obviously better homes. She quickly changed her tune when the mages informed her that the cost of resources and labour were being covered by the Empire. Two weeks after the invasion most of the homes were completed and some of the roads were now even paved once the mages found out that ponies had no health issues concerning walking on hard surfaces all day. The mages were currently working on a few remaining homes, doing some restructuring on the local school, and working on paving the rest of the roads.

It was to the sight of several mages working on the roof of the school in the near noon sun that greeted a slightly travel-weary pair of mares.

"See Vinyl?" Octavia stated as she pointed with her azure leg. "Atlanteans working on the school, I have no doubts that they are the reason for the improved streets and rebuilt homes as well. Would total monsters do that?"

"Sheesh, Tavi! I said I would give them a chance didn't I?" Vinyl Scratch pouted at her friend from behind her sun glasses. "You don't have to go and rub my muzzle in it."

"Just 'greasing the gears' so to speak, Vinyl." Octavia replied with a small smile as she began walking forward smoothly. The cello player was now rather comfortable to with her new leg and was actually looking forward to trying to run so she could start on training her mechanical hand to play the cello.

It was then that the two mare's attentions were attracted by the happy squeals and laughter of foals coming from the school.

"I almost got you!" A male voice said and was answered with a round of excited yells and laughter. It took her a moment, but Octavia identified the voice as an Atlantean as it had a slight accent she had begun to associate with the people. Just behind her, Vinyl Scratch froze in spot the very moment she heard the voice and her eyes became almost comically wide behind her sun glasses.

"It-it can't be?!" She said in a hoarse whisper as she turned towards the playground.

"What 'can't be' Vinyl?" Octavia asked her DJ friend only to be ignored as said pony approached the picket fence surrounding the school grounds. "Vinyl? Vinyl what's wrong?"

Octavia stepped forward until she stood at the DJ pony's side. She was about to try to get her attention again when a small crowd of foals appeared from behind the school with a Warmage in his un-deployed power armor chasing them in some sort of game. Octavia smiled at the sight, she also held a little gratification at being right in guessing the nationality of the voice as she watched the Warmage play with the children.

The sight before her brought a different reaction to Vinyl Scratch however. As soon she spotted that head of hair, blacker than coal, and his deep toxic-purple eyes she began to hyperventilate a little. Vinyl held absolutely no doubt as to the identity of the Warmage before her, it was **him**. For Vinyl instead of a foal squealing in excitement as he was on verge of being caught and a Warmage with hands outstretched to catch, the image was replaced with that same foal screaming in terror and the Warmage in his deployed armor with his head uncovered and his monstrous flaming claws outstretched. And instead of the mage playfully saying 'I'm gonna get you!' he was howling out in utter bloodthirsty rage 'I'M GOING TO GUT YOU!'

Octavia blinked in surprise as her friend suddenly shrugged off both of their saddle bags and leapt over the picket fence, horn a glow with magic.

As Vinyl landed on the other side of the fence she grasped one of the pickets, ripped it out of its place, and brought it over her head. With her impromptu weapon she charged forward towards the Warmage and shouted out just as he was about to catch the little foal.

"Get away from him you monster!" With that she sent the picket flying, pointed end first, towards the man's head.

The Warmage stopped when he heard the shout and turned towards it, wondering what was going on. His eyes widened when he saw the piece of wood flying towards him and he quickly dropped onto one knee. As the picket flew over his head the Warmage turned towards his attacker, only to become confused when he saw that before him was a white unicorn with an electric blue mane and some distance behind her was a gaping grey mare with an artificial azure leg. He began searching around himself for his attacker when he heard Octavia shout out.

"VINYL! WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"It's him Tavi." The DJ answered, not turning away from the Warmage. "It's that torturing killer I told you about."

Suddenly the workers atop the school begin shouting out.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell?!"

"Did you see that?!" Shouted another. "She tried to take his head off!"

"WHAT. THE. FUCK?!"

They were not the only ones to begin shouting however.

"Hey, leave Timothy alone!" Shouted the little foal the Warmage was chasing just a moment ago.

"Yeah, you meanie!" A little filly added.

"What did Timmy ever do to you huh?!"

"Wh-what?" Vinyl took a step back in shock. They were defending him?

Only then did the Warmage realise that his attacker actually was the white unicorn in front of him, and he didn't know what to think of that. It she had been any other species, he would have just taken her down and had her charged with aggravated assault on military personal with a potentially deadly weapon. But she was a pony and every interaction with ponies he had had only pointed to them being peace loving and happy. So why did she attack him? He was going to find out, and if he didn't like the answer then he was going to bring her in and inform his superiors, simple as that… well actually he didn't have the authority to arrest her since he was in Equestria. Well then he would have to make a citizen's arrest, he was pretty sure that was allowed.

"Okay kids, run along now!" He said to the little foals that were now standing protectively in front of him. "I'm going to find out why the nice looking lady is being a meanie, okay?"

"Are you sure Timothy?" Asked a little filly. "What if she tries to hit you in the head with another piece of wood?"

"Hey! I'm a big tough Warmage." Timothy replied, placing his hands on his hips heroically. "She'll need to do much more than that to hurt me! Now you lot go on, got some official and important Warmage investigating to do."

"Ohhhhhh." The small crowd of foals said together.

"Okay, Mr. Warmage sir!" Piped up a little colt who now giving Timothy a salute. "We'll let you do your important business! Come on guys!"

Timothy stepped forward towards the seemingly frozen Vinyl Scratch as the children ran off. He turned towards the workers atop the school and waved at them to stay where they are when it appeared they were about to leap down. He stopped in front of the DJ and crossed his arms imperiously.

"You better have a good explanation for why you just tried to attack me." He stated.

Vinyl didn't reply as she was too busy trying to comprehend the figure before her. Her memory of the day she and Octavia were 'rescued' was clear and very vivid. She knew exactly how the mage acted: like an insane killing, torturing machine, unable to comprehend the cries of its victims as anything more than background noise. Yet the person that stood in front of her, who she knew without a doubt was the same one that rescued her, contrasted sharply. His eyes were not insane and wild; they were calm and portrayed clear intelligence. Even his stance was different, before he was slightly bent over and his body seemed to heave with his deep breaths, now he stood ram-rod straight and was as still as a statue.

"Well?" Timothy said with slight impatience. "I'm waiting."

"Vinyl!" Octavia shouted as she rapidly approached in an awkward trot. "What in Celestia's yellow Sun were you thinking?! Attacking someone out of the blue like that!"

"You… you were… you…" Vinyl sputtered.

"Excuse me?" The mage replied with some confusion. "Could you repeat that louder and clearer please?"

"You were the one that killed those pirates." Vinyl answered as she took a deep calming breath.

"Could you please clarify?" Timothy asked. "I killed many pirates during the invasion. I doubt I could even remember a fraction of them."

Both Vinyl and Octavia looked deeply perturbed at the mage's casual admission at mass murder and Vinyl took another deep breath as she continued. "You were the one that saved us and… and tortured those pirates to death…"

Timothy looked confused for a moment before his face cleared in realization. "… That sounds like you saw me during an episode. Explains why I don't remember saving anyone…"

"An episode?" Octavia asked.

"The life of a Warmage is not easy," Timothy began. "As we get stronger, so too do our lives get longer. Eventually we get strong to the point where the prospect of death by old age is no longer an issue. This means that barring final death in battle, we will live for eternity. An eternity of bloodshed and war in the service of Atlantis and Emperor Ezekiel, can you imagine it? No, judging by your expressions you consider even attempting to imagine such a thing heinous."

Vinyl's sun glasses slid down her snout enough to reveal her wide horrified eyes and Octavia seemed to be struggling to keep her expression composed.

"As I said, this life is not easy." Timothy continued. "Some of us take to it easier than others… sometimes too easily. Others have difficulties right from the beginning and require constant support to continue on in this line of work. And some are fine… for a time, as was I. For four centuries of service I was absolutely fine, and then I started to have black outs. At first it was nothing much, I'd black out for a bit and nothing seemed to come of it; my squad said that other than a sudden eagerness for close combat they didn't notice anything strange. Then they started to get longer and they began to notice sudden personality changes, and that I would suddenly become bloodthirsty and purposefully drag out the deaths of my opponents. Obviously, I needed psychological help, especially when I began to break from the squad to sate my sudden thirst for battle."

"It sounds like you need a bit more than talking with a psychologist to get this under control." Octavia stated as Vinyl stared up at the Warmage.

"My squad mates and commander say the same," Timothy replied with a nod. "They say that I should take this century's retirement early."

"Re-retirement?" Vinyl spoke up.

"Warmages have mandatory vacations and retirements to help ease the strain we experience in our work." Timothy explained, "A month off annually for vacations and two decades for retirements."

"Now I presume since you saw me during one of my psychotic episodes you immediately assumed I was trying to hurt the children right?" He asked Vinyl and got a nod. "Understandable, but next time think before you act. Because assault is a crime and I would have immediately reported you to the nearest authorities." And without another word Timothy turned on his heel and headed in the direction the foals run off to.

For a few moments there was silence before Vinyl Scratch let herself fall into a sitting position with a thud and bowed her head, letting her sun glasses fall to the ground.

"Vinyl, are you okay?" Octavia asked worriedly as she placed her metallic hoof on her friends shoulder. Vinyl shuddered at the feel of the metal, a cold reminder of that day.

"…Tavi what's wrong with the world?" The DJ said without looking up.

"Vinyl?"

"It used to be so easy to tell who was good and who was bad." Vinyl said. "All you had to do was study how they looked or listened to how they talked and you knew without a doubt. I mean if a pony ever did or said a bad thing you'd know he was a bad pony right?"

"…Right." Octavia agreed, a little unsure where Vinyl was heading.

"But then they came." She said with a shake of her head. "We get saved by some crazed, torturing psychopath only to find out he just has some horrible head issues and is actually a good person." Vinyl lifted her head to look at the mage in question, who was now being crowded by smiling foals. "And is good with foals too…" The DJ bowed her head again and released a pained and frustrated groan. "The invasion is over! Why can't things just go back to the way they were! Why can't _they_ just go away?!" Vinyl pointed to the workers atop the school and one of them raised her middle finger in response.

"Vinyl, stop it." Octavia said as she picked up the fallen sunglasses. "This isn't like you. What happened to that crazy party mare that would give Pinkie Pie a run for her money? Where's the DJ that woke me up every morning with her deafening songs?" The cello player asked as she placed Vinyl's sunglasses back on her snout. "Where's my best friend who never fails to amuse me with her antics?"

"… I guess she changed along with the rest of the world Tavi…" Vinyl answered quietly before getting up. "Come on, let's go check on our place, I wanna see just how untouched it is."

With that Vinyl walked back to the street with a deeply frowning Octavia following soon after.

**Λ**

Operative Daniels exited a sector control room aboard the Melody, having just finished a meeting with a few members of the Admiralty. As far as they were concerned Equestria had no need of the attentions of the Imperial Fleet, and that was exactly the point they had made when they asked for the reassignment of the Sadistic Melody. While the captain and the ship itself were considered powerful and respected assets in any conflict, there were many more like them. What made the Melody special was the Alpha-Omega cannon it sported.

A practically hot-off-the-shelf technological terror, the Alpha-Omega cannon was incredibly powerful, but had quickly gained an infamy with production line personnel, as even a magical post-scarcity society like Atlantis had incredible difficulty making them in any great number. Currently there were only three hundred and sixteen models out and installed on ships. While the technology itself was tested to oblivion and back, the installation process for placing and integrating the cannon into a ship's system still had some failings, meaning that currently only a handful of ships were not docked for repairs due to system failures.

The Operative agreed with the Admirals' request, he saw no need to have a ship capable of catastrophically destabilizing a planet hovering over Equestria and reminding the inhabitants of that fact day and night. He was quickly beginning to see that unlike other civilizations, Equestria was a truly peaceful land and did not require heavy handed dealings or blatant demonstrations of power. The locals knew who had saved them and were immensely grateful. Granted, they were frightened by how they were rescued, but that had mostly died down.

Daniels made his way down the hall towards Captain Alexandria's quarters, determined to inform the Captain of her reassignment in person, rather than over a private com channel. The Captain's quarters were located in the habitation section of the ship along with all the others, and was a simple walk from the sector control he just left.

As he made his way Daniels' mind began to wander. He wondered about Major Sparkly. He had given her the okay to secure parts of the Everfree for Imperial use, so it wouldn't be long until patrols began. He guessed that her battalion would be moving into the Everfree tomorrow. Thinking of battalions, Daniels' mind wandered over the newly arrived one, Major Cobalt's new command. Other than having an instinct for discretion they weren't anything special; they all had the mandatory power requirements for their ranks and were all experienced in the field. Cobalt would make good use of the captains and the companies they commanded, of that much Daniels was sure.

Finally the AIB Operative found himself standing before the door to Captain Alexandria's room. Daniels entered the room unannounced and was met with the sight of the Captain studying herself in hologram that acted as a full length mirror for her.

Her quarters were larger than that of the average officer; this was one of the benefits of being the commanding officer of a ship. It was no larger than the average master bedroom, but compared to even a company commander's quarters on the ship, it might as well have been the height of luxury. Centered against the back wall was a queen sized bed with bedside table on each side with a trunk at the foot of the bed. Opposite the bed against the wall was a simple desk with several CPU bricks along its length and a wheeled chair in front of it.

And for the captain herself, Alexandria had her hair pulled into a tight bun that had not left out a single strand of her brown hair. She was wearing her decorative uniform, which she was currently studying with her dark blue eyes for an unseen speck of dust. She wore a black long coat with silver trimming, a pair of black dress shoes, pressed, pitch black dress pants, and a silver-trimmed, peaked cap sporting the usual neon pink Lambda symbol of Atlantis on the front. It was an impressive ensemble, but it was also heavy and got very hot, not really a problem but it was a constant annoyance.

Daniels walked over until he was in view of the mirror crossed his arms and simply leaned on the wall until Alexandria spoke to him. The captain continued her self-examination, though she undid the front of her coat, revealing a gray vest with large black buttons and a white dress shirt worn underneath. This went on for a few minutes more until Alexandria sighed and spoke out.

"Yes, Operative?"

"I just finished a conversation with the Admiralty," Daniels replied. "Considering the immense strategic value the Sadistic Melody possesses with the Alpha-Omega cannon, they asked for your reassignment to the front lines. I agreed that you would be of more worth to the Empire fighting rather than floating ominously over some alien world."

"Understood," Alexandria said while still examining her reflection. "I'll return for reassignment in a few hours. What is your current assignment?"

"I am to continue to develop relations with Equestria," the Operative answered. "And in light of a recent… discovery concerning the sharing of knowledge between the Empire and Equestria, I am to do so at my own discretion."

Silence ensured as Daniels continued leaning against the wall and Alexandria continued to look at her reflection. The Operative waited about a minute before deciding that he would be the one to speak up this time.

"Still mad Allie?" Silence was all that answered him. "You know… two weeks is a long time to stay angry. You know how I am. Being in plain view when I don't have to be makes me nervous, and I did fulfill my promise to be there, I just didn't say I would be in sight."

Captain Alexandria had long since stopped examining herself in the mirror and was staring at him through her reflection with an unreadable expression. Daniels decided he had said what he needed to say and proceeded to try to leave.

Before he could get anywhere near the door, Daniels spotted a blur out of the corner of his eye and suddenly there was a fist smashing a deep dent into the wall just in front of him. He turned to meet the utterly furious face of Captain Alexandria, who then punched the wall on the other side of his head with her other hand. Not for the first time, Daniels wondered why he liked to make the incredibly powerful woman in front of him pissed off, and as always the answer strangely eluded him.

"Every. Damn. Time. Jeremy." Alexandria said angrily. "Is it too much that you make a fucking public appearance beside me?"

Daniels stared at Alexandria through the crimson lenses of his mask. "… I really don't know what to tell you Allie."

Alexandria scowled before her expression became utterly blank. She gripped the front of Daniels' coat and tossed him over her shoulder, aiming him so that he'd fall onto the bed. Landing on the bed face first with a thump, Daniels rolled over and was met with the sight of Alexandria taking her coat and hat off.

"You stay right there, that is an order!" She growled as she began removing her vest and dress shirt revealing a gray tank top that showed off her finely toned arms. Then she reached up and undid the bun and let her hair fall, it ended a little past her shoulders and was very straight, it also almost covered her face until she pulled one side behind her left ear. It was times like these that Daniels almost wished she had black hair, she could have pulled off the moody look wonderfully.

"Don't you think you're abusing your authority a little? I mean taking advantage of a fellow mage, for shame…!" Daniels' said amusedly as he took off his own coat and began removing his mask.

"Oh, I'll show you abuse alright…" Alexandria muttered before leaping onto him.

"Oh my…" Daniels remarked with a wide cheeky smile before her lips closed roughly over his.

**Λ**

Erika had a visor across her snout, much like sports glasses, save that it was transparent and had a heads-up-display built in. She and her brother Conrad were aboard a drop-ship heading for Canterlot. While she was watching their approach to the capital, her brother was in the seat opposite her with a long loop of string strung between his fingers. He'd wrap parts of the string around his fingers and pull on it hoping to get a neat pattern out whenever he pulled taut, but most of the time he ended up with a tangled mess.

Suddenly a little window appeared on Erika's visor, giving her a view of the palace from the cockpit.

"Look at that." The pilot said. "They made a little landing platform for our ships."

It was true. In one of the palace courtyards was a large stone platform, big enough to hold six ships, maybe nine if they packed them in tightly. There was even a guard present, waving them down like some sort of traffic controller.

"Heh. Roger that. Going in for a landing." The pilot remarked jokingly as the window in Erika's visor closed.

They settled in a gentle landing on the platform and the ramp began lowering. Conrad put away his string, after a brief struggle with the tangle it had become, and Erika did the same with her visor by 'pocketing' it. They were met with the sight of ten royal guards standing at attention just outside the ramp of the ship, with a pony servant at the end of the group to meet them. They quickly walked between the two lines of guards to meet with the servant while Conrad gave a loud whistle at the reception they got.

"Greetings Miss and Mister Gefallen," The servant said with a respectful bow.

"Hello!" Conrad greeted back loudly.

Giving Conrad a warning nudge, Erika stepped forward. "Hello. I am Erika Gefallen; I've come to see my brother Shining Armor."

"Sir Armor is most eager to meet with you and the relation you mentioned in your letter, who I assume to be this cheerful fellow, Lady Gefall- please pardon me miss." The servant said suddenly. "I'd forgotten that Atlanteans would consider being called anything relating to nobility insulting."

"It's no problem, could you lead us to my brother please?" "This way, please, follow me." The servant answered before leading them towards the palace.

Erika and Conrad followed the servant into the palace. Work was still going strong as construction ponies moved around on scaffolding in the halls and on the floor itself. The sounds of hammers and shouting echoed loudly throughout the halls and faded as they walked past and closed a few doors behind them. Entering the fully repaired areas of the palace, Erika took notice of the improved structure of the interior. The columns that lined the halls looked much stronger and simple, but resilient arches crossed the ceilings. Erika inwardly approved of them as they stopped in front of a pair of closed double doors.

"Sir Armor is inside awaiting the both of you." The servant said and took his leave.

Erika stepped in front of the door and took a deep breath. She decided to pause a moment to collect herself before meeting her birth brother. This meeting could end badly in so many different ways. Although she didn't truly know Armor as she was now, her memories of before made her want to have a close relationship with him. She stood, collecting her wits, trying to make sure she was ready to counteract any mistakes she might make.

Conrad saw what his little sister was doing and thought she was being overly dramatic, so he decided that the intelligent thing to do was to rush forward and practically bash the door down with a kick.

"Hello, kon'nichiwa , bonjour , morionem!" He announced loudly as the doors slammed into the walls.

Shining Armor was wearing a red coat and was in what appeared to be a small lounge that had several couches and armchairs around a good sized coffee table, off to the side was a wall with windows lining its length and a glass door leading to a balcony.

The Captain of the Guard leapt from the couch he was sitting on when he heard the doors slam open, in shock and surprise. He calmed down when he saw Erika face-hoofing in exasperation and her apparent relative smiling widely.

"Conrad… what was that last one you said." She asked with narrowed eyes. "I didn't quite catch it."

"Hello?" Conrad answered with a wide, all too innocent, smile.

"Conrad…" She was pretty sure Conrad had just insulted Armor in Latin, but as she said, she didn't quite catch it.

Instead of answering, Conrad bounded forward until he was just outside the ring of furniture. He gave a cheerful smile to Armor and motioned him closer.

"Hello!" He greeted when Armor was just in front of him. "My name is Conrad; I'm Erika's older brother. Imagine that!" Conrad laughed.

Shining Armor eventually collected himself from the sudden entry, and once he did, decided he liked the Atlantean in front of him. "Greetings, my name is Shining Armor. And I am also Erika's older brother." He said cordially and raised his hoof towards Conrad, who shook it very eagerly.

"Really?" Conrad said with raised eyebrows. "Mind telling me how old you are?"

"Twenty six," Armor answered with a questioning tilt of his head.

"HA!" Conrad shouted loudly and began to chuckle softly.

"Actually Armor…"Erika broke in for the first time and gained her confused brother's attention. "I'm older than you… by about twenty one years."

An awkward silence followed as Armor absorbed this little fact. Suddenly the Captain of the Guard found himself to be the younger of two siblings, he had always wondered how life would have been like if Twilight had been born first. Now that it had happened, in an admittedly roundabout way, he didn't know what to think or feel about it, the whole situation was just too fantastic to take in all at once.

Conrad looked back and forth between the two silent unicorns. He didn't really like awkward moments and tended to try to end them the most direct way possible.

"You know what you two need?" Conrad said as he pulled both ponies to his side, "A nice change of scenery for this awkward moment!"

Conrad dragged both Erika and Armor along to the door leading to the balcony. Upon reaching the door he pushed both of them through.

"Right, while you two have your emotional touchy feely drama moment, I'll go have a little stroll." Conrad flashed both of them a theatrically sincere smile before closing the door and making for the exit of the room.

Erika sighed. She knew something like this was going to happen. At least she trusted her brother not to go overboard, and figured that the damage control would be simple enough for her to handle. She then turned towards the view the balcony offered and had to admit it was great.

She could see Ponyville in the valley below, the scenic waterfall that ran down the side of the mountain Canterlot clung to, and the Everfree beyond Ponyville. Over to her right was the expanse of Unicorn Range, Cloudsdale hanging up in the sky and a small mountain range that stretched on to the Smokey Mountain in the far distance.

The violet unicorn smiled at the grand view and turned to her brother who was also taking the time to take in the sight before him. She thought about him for a moment, searching the memories that had returned to her about the times she spent with him. She realised that she had no idea why he joined the royal guard and she resolved to change that this very moment.

"Armor?" She asked, gaining his attention. "I never really knew why you joined the Royal Guard. Do you mind if I ask now?"

"Not at all Erika," Shining Armor answered with a smile. "Well to tell the truth, I only joined up at first because I thought the uniform and armor was cool."

"Of course," Erika snorted with a wide smile. "Look dashing and get all the girls you want."

"Heh, yeah girls…" Armor stared off into the distance with misty eyes before he quickly shook it off and turned back to Erika. "So at first I joined because I thought I would look cool in a uniform, and I was right. But later, I learned what the Guard was really about. Everypony hears about Mount Tartarus and the evil monsters held prisoner within, but most don't really know about all the peoples and creatures that would hurt or enslave them if given the chance."

Armor thought about his first combat situation, a rescue operation; a pack of Diamond Dogs had kidnapped several ponies from Hollow Shades and were putting them to work digging up gems in Foal Mountain. The operation was a complete success. After giving the dogs a good beating, who ran away fairly quickly, the guards let ponies free. For the senior guards it was just another day in the life, but for Armor, the whole experience changed his outlook on his position as a Royal Guard. It wasn't just something to do in order to walk around the city in uniform and look cool, now he had a true purpose to pour his heart and soul into. It was remarkably easy to imagine one of the enslaved unicorns as an older Twilight who was traveling to get a particularly rare book before she was ambushed and captured. Shining Armor resolved to be best guard he could be in order to keep that from happening, to her or anyone else. In that moment of decisiveness, he gained his cutie mark, a shield emblazoned with a star.

"…I leaned what it meant to be a Royal Guard, what it meant to dedicate myself to service of the Princess and protection of the people." Armor said solemnly. "When I learned that, I gained my cutie mark. And Erika… It may not mean much now… but I am deeply sorry I couldn't protect you."

"It's alright Armor." Erika smiled comfortably at the sad expression on his face. "I mean, everything worked out in the end right?"

"… Yes, I suppose so." Armor replied. "The invasion was horrible, and nopony will ever forget it, but… things worked out as well as they could in the end."

"So, Erika..." Armor began. "I told you why I joined the Royal Guard, care to return the favour?"

"Why I joined the Warmages?" Erika asked and got a confirming nod. "Well, like you, I didn't really have a very deep reason for wanting to be a Warmage at first: it just ran in the family!" Erika couldn't help but laugh as she said this.

Armor frowned when he heard the family remark, but Erika didn't notice and continued. "Only a handful of Gefallens have ever become something that didn't directly contribute to the Empire. I felt compelled to become a Warmage from all the stories of my family's accomplishments, standing their ground against savage and barbaric incursions, making great strides in the sciences and developing a new way to protect our people and land. My father Ezekiel may have kept telling me that it didn't matter what I wanted to be, that he would always love and support me as a true father should, but I could tell that he was proud of me when I told him I wanted to be a Warmage." Erika smiled happily at the memory. "The very moment I saw the look on his face I wanted nothing more than to become a Warmage and keep making him proud."

"You must have a very close relationship with the uhh… man that adopted you." Armor stated with a neutral expression.

"Yes I do," Erika readily admitted. "And I can't really help it, he didn't have to adopt me, but he did, he didn't have to love me like my adoptive mother Su Li gave birth to me, but he did. And he was my first true memory too, all I knew was cold lonely darkness and a tiny cell then suddenly there was light and warmth and I saw his face. He took care of me, he raised me, he taught me right from wrong, and he gave me massive family to love as well. I owe him so much…" Erika drifted off for a moment then shook her head. "Anyways…

"I joined the Warmage Academy when I was thirteen." She continued. "I was expected to excel in any field of magic I chose, so I excelled in all of them to be sure. I was expected to know things that the text books and even some teachers didn't and I did. I was the top of my class from almost the day I arrived and I knew I would graduate exceptionally early. But then I started to hear and see things."

"I heard about attacks on fringe colonies and how outsider nations would betray pacts and alliances with us attempting to make sure these assaults were successful." Erika said with a frown. "Before when I heard about these sorts of things from my elder family members, they would always talk about how they defeated great hordes of pirate or slaver fleets, but never mention the people they saved from a horrible fate by doing that. Now that I think about it, they just probably got accustomed to knowing their actions were saving citizens from hardship and just didn't bother to mention such an obvious fact."

"But then, I didn't know that, and the stories affected me in a visceral way. I was always safe in the Gefallen Compound, but there were people who lived on the fringe colonies that were not. They lived with the constant threat that a nearby race would get bold and attempt to raid their home or kidnap them so that the secrets of Atlantean magic could be figured out, or a weakness could be exploited." Erika spoke softly as she glared off into the distance. "I may have gone into the academy wanting to fulfil an unsaid expectation and make my father proud, but I graduated with the intention to save and protect… I also got my… my mark soon after, during the graduation ceremony. I didn't really know what it was though and it surprised me and everyone else during the ceremony." Erika finished with chuckle.

Despite the unease he felt when Erika talked about her adoptive father and the Gefallens like they were her true family, Armor laughed along with his _older_ sister. The two then fell into a comfortable silence as they enjoyed the view in front of them, it was late enough in the afternoon that the sky had just begun to change hues from blue to orange on the horizon opposite the sun. After a minute of silence, Armor spoke up once more.

"You know…" He began and got the Warmage's attention. "Mother and Father became very worried after the Discord incident, when they heard that you had been teleported to some far off land by that Draconequis."

"Are they…"

"They were in Vanhoover visiting relatives during the invasion." Armor replied. "So yes, they are fine. A while ago I sent a letter telling them I was fine and that you had returned. They were very happy; the letter I got back from them was almost unreadable from how excited they were when they wrote it. They really want to see you as soon as the rails leading to Vanhoover are repaired."

Erika opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't think of anything, not even something positive about finding out her birth parents were okay. It was just too uncomfortable trying to think of two unicorns when she thought of the words mother and father, Ezekiel and Su Li came up far more readily than the people she actually was born to, even though she now had quite a few memories of when she was little here in Equestria. Granted most of them were dominated by her time as Celestia's student, but…

"You… you don't even think of them as your parents anymore do you?" Armor stated with a deeply disappointed frown.

"Armor, please listen." Erika told him. "It's just that I feel so out of place here. It's easier to think of them as parents now than it was weeks ago, but I'm far more familiar with an entirely different universe with different rules. I just feel like a puzzle piece from another set that just happens to fit, but doesn't really belong."

"Really?" Armor asked, "Because other than ponies talking about how Princess Celestia's student came back as a warrior mare in charge of an army, they haven't said anything else about you. I think you're being too judgemental of yourself and I believe those best friends of yours I keep hearing about will say the same.

"Now about our parents…" He continued. "If you can't meet them just yet, then I will send them a letter explaining the situation. I'll probably have to give another explanation in person when they arrive, but I'm sure they'll understand."

"Thank you so much Armor." Erika said happily, she thought it would take her time, but treating Shining Armor like he was family was far easier then she expected.

The moment ended when the doors leading to the balcony burst open and Conrad came flying through, slamming them closed behind him. As he leaned, panting against the doors, an almost Cheshire grin plastered across his expression, Conrad looked at Erika and Shining Armor.

"If a tall Princess Luna with Celestia's voice and a short Celestia with Luna's voice come asking for me, well…" He spoke conversationally as he crossed the balcony and climbed over the railing. "Tell them I'm not here and that I had nothing to do with the dyes unexpectedly falling from atop the door, Atlantean brand names on the containers be damned!" He shouted as he began to climb down.

Erika and Armor looked over the railing and watched as Conrad climbed under the balcony to hide.

"Am I going to have to catch him later?" Armor asked curiously.

"Probably…" Erika sighed.

"**REVEAL THYSELF, FOUL KNAVE!**" Luna's voice boomed from within the palace.

"Conrad…" Erika ground out.

"I'm not here!"

**Λ**

Within a sealed room aboard the portal ship, Major Cobalt met with the captains now under his command. The room they were in had a table with chairs in the center and a few other tables at the sides of the room; one had a coffee machine atop of it.

Cobalt paced in front of his Captains as they stood at attention in a neat line. He studied each one in their deployed armor. The human Captains, Oswald and Jericho, looked no different from any other humans in Atlantean armor. Captain Gazardial was a succubus and almost looked human, except for the armor plated claws, talons, and serpentine tail. Standing at eight feet was Captain Kamos, the minotaur, he had the head and legs of a bull, but un upper body of a human, though the human part had a coat of short brown fur rather than skin. In her deployed armor, Captain Deirdre the dryad was indistinguishable from a human, but off duty she wore a traditional dryad gown made of mosses, vines and lichen, showing off her birch bark skin and long grass hair that would bloom with daisies in moments of happiness. The Major nodded in satisfaction as he finished his examination.

"At ease." At Cobalt's words, the captains went into more relaxed stances as the Major placed a CPU brick in the middle of the table.

"You all know why you are here." Cobalt stated as the brick activated and began projecting holograms. "While developments between the Empire and the Kingdom of Equestria show that the Princesses are very willing to work with us, there are things that are better left unsaid and unseen in negotiations.

"There will be many black ops in the coming months." Cobalt continued as the holo-menus were replaced with pictures and maps. "Here are a few you can expect. This is the Everfree forest; it'll be the region our first ops will be conducted in. We will be assisting various research teams collect various local flora and fauna, fairly simple, and barely a black op, except for the fact that we absolutely cannot be spotted collecting the local wildlife. They are rather sapient and the pony population may react badly to the idea of them being carted off for research and testing, not to mention a local VIP is very close to them and would inform Princess Celestia should we be discovered, potentially souring our reputation and recently gained trust with her."

"Here is Mount Tartarus." The Major pointed to a picture of a forest covered mountain with a beautiful water fall in the background. "It is located next to the Neighagra Falls, and yes, that really is the name. The mountain also serves as a prison for a currently unknown evil and has a massive three-headed bulldog named Cerberus as the guard. After Everfree has been drained of its secrets, this mountain will be the site of a small operation. Yet again, nothing very questionable in this op, if it weren't for the fact you can't be spotted. Just a scouting mission so a future AIB team can begin an extensive examination and cataloguing of the prison's inmates and contents."

"Now this is where things can get a little dicey." Cobalt stated as the pictures of large mountain ranges and vast plains appeared, including a few of stone snow covered cities sitting atop the crown of mountains. "Far to the east on another continent is the Gryphon Principalities. We have already established formal relations with the High King and Queen Hrothgar and Astrid. Like how the op in Everfree will go, we will be collecting flora and fauna from this continent. Unlike Everfree however, we will also be abducting gryphons for the same purpose. Naturally this means there will be far higher consequences should we be caught. Naturally, I expect this to never be discovered, understood? Good.

Along with what will be collected," He continued, "are magical artifacts and tomes. The Storm Wings are griffons capable of harnessing the power of lightning and cloud formations. Reports state that the Court Storm Wing of the High King is capable of creating an Anvil storm cloud and harnessing it to great effect." A picture appeared of a massive black cloud that was literally the shape of an anvil, a small circle outlining a speck of white had a line leading to another picture of a graying old griffon wearing a star spotted robe and hood with a pair a spectacles on his beak. "Naturally several Storm Wings will be among our targets, as well as a vault containing a vast amount of their lore. The eggheads are very interested in these magic users and we'll probably be hung up on the op a while."

"Across the west ocean and… Fillypean Islands." Cobalt shook his head as Captain Deirdre could not help the snort she let out. "On the mainland is the Xiǎo mǎ Middle Kingdom, ruled by Eternal Empress Huánghūn who is said to owe her eternal life to the miracle of mercury. Yes I know she should be dead if that is true, mercury here is no different from back home, but what evidence we were able to gain so far supports her rather unusual appetite. We currently have not established formal relations with them, but that is likely to change. The local wildlife may be worthy of looking into and the Alchemists of the Middle Kingdom are beginning to attract attention with the eggheads." Cobalt stated as a picture of a white coated pony with a braided back mane and slanted eyes appeared. The pony was wearing a conical hat and a sort of green yakuta with black sleeves that had a symbol of a heron on the back, fastened to his sides were saddle bags full of vials which held bubbling multicolored liquids. "Despite the name, the Alchemists have nothing to do with the Alchemy Atlantis uses. Rather they are a form of potion makers, their potions however are on an entirely different tier than those made by the common savage. Bottled elements: lightning, fire and ice, shrinking and growth potions, various forms of invisibility, from full to partial for medical diagnosis, and a vast array of potions that cause various forms of illnesses, none of them fatal or even threatening, mostly troublesome and embarrassing as I recall one Bio-Weapons Specialist's opinion. These are but a few examples that are currently known, be assured we will know more by the time you begin operations in the Middle Kingdom."

"These are the sorts of operations that are currently planned; they may be cancelled or changed as we gather more information so be prepared." Cobalt stated as the hologram turned back to menus. "Further briefings of the current regions of interest have been sent to your onboard computer so you may study them further. We will begin the Everfree op when the Embassy is completed so consider the next few days a break, and remember, other than your companies, no Atlantean personal may be told of what you'll be doing, dismissed." The Major said to the Captains, who then nodded and left the room.

Major Cobalt waited until he was alone before directing himself towards the CPU brick on the table. He motioned his hand through the air, selecting options on the menus before a phone symbol appeared before him and ringing sounded throughout the room. Suddenly a blank screen appeared with [NO VIDEO FEED] on the front.

"…Yes?" The slightly sleepy voice of Operative Daniels sounded from the screen.

"Operative I am all set on my end." Cobalt replied, "Just waiting on the completion of the embassy to start the first op."

"Good… excellent, just give the workers a few days, maybe a week and the embassy should be finished." Daniels said absently as faint feminine grumbles and complaints sounded in the background of the call.

Cobalt arched an eyebrow at that. _'Was… was that Captain Alexandria?'_

"Is there… something wrong Operative Daniels?" The Major asked.

"Hmmm… nothing at all Major." Daniels answered. "I'll leave you to your work, Daniels signing off."

Cobalt stood there for a few moments before shaking his head bemusedly.

_'Who says business has to come before pleasure?'_

**TBC**

Hello people of ! I have returned and present a new chapter! Enjoy!

P.S Anna Banana where are those reviews you promised me! :C

...

Heh :P

EDIT: *SIGH* I just can't get luckly with the way this site formats things -_-"


	17. Elsewhere Episode III : Derpy Hooves

Erika's battalion had set up a large encampment just outside Ponyville near Everfree. It was nothing special: a small tent town with numerous campfires surrounded by tents. The cooking fires were set up nearer to Everfree than Ponyville, a courtesy to spare the ponies from seeing meat being eaten. Spaced around the encampment were several large clearings for Warmages to spar in. Most were in use by mages trying to stave off boredom and improve their skills, including one red-headed Cadet Battle Mage.

**Λ**

Zoe stood in her partially deployed Jotun power armor with her runed sword drawn. Her form was fully covered by her armor but she was not up to her full twelve feet, rather she was only standing at six, still a foot and a half taller than she normally was.

In front of her stood her squad mate and fellow Battle Mage Cesare, also in partially deployed Jotun armor. He stood in a relaxed stance with his head held high and hand clasped around the hilt of his runed katana as Zoe began circling him in their little training arena. He seemed to not consider her a threat though, as he only bothered to keep her in sight when it didn't involve moving his body or straining his neck. Zoe wasn't fooled though, it may have taken her dozens of losses, but she learned his game. Cesare's strategy when going into single combat was to antagonise his opponent and make them feel like they weren't worth the time, and it was effective. You didn't even need to see his face to imagine that he was looking down his nose at you with a disinterested expression; his stance also seemed to radiate a sort of arrogance that one couldn't help but be agitated by. Cesare preferred to keep his sword sheathed until the last second before making a lightning fast draw and slash, it was this moment that would decide everything for Zoe. She knew he could just stand there all day looking bored with the entire thing so the first move would have to be hers, and if she couldn't figure out how to dodge or block his first move, she wouldn't survive. Zoe may have been the strongest in her squad, but Cesare was the fastest and had the best technique, barring their squad leader.

"Yeah! Go Zoe! Kick his flank!" Silver Spoon shouted from the side lines along with a crowd of Warmages watching silently. Diamond Tiara was present as well, but she was making a show out of her focus on improving her walking ability by pacing back and forth; though she kept making discreet glances toward the dirt arena.

Cesare turned his head towards the cheering little filly, seemingly opening himself up to an attack. However, Zoe recognized this as bait; Cesare's form had false openings all the time. Her only reward for attacking now would be a lightning fast ambush that would get him another win on her. Surviving his draw attack was merely the first problem; it was Cesare's fastest attack, but that didn't mean his basic form was slow either. That was a problem for the future though; right now she needed a fool-proof battle plan just for the first strike.

Zoe eyed the packed ground of the arena with narrowed eyes; a plan began to form in the Cadet Battle Mage's head. She figured she could kick up some good-sized balls dirt with the flat of her sword and maybe cause Cesare to be off his mark by half an inch… maybe a tenth of an inch… Okay, it wasn't the best plan she could have come up with, but there were very few things that would mess with a Warmage's vision. She was hoping his spatial awareness wasn't so comprehensive that he could land a cut exactly where he wanted to with just his sensors. With a bare-bones strategy in place, Zoe charged Cesare's back to the sound of Silver Spoon's cheering.

Cesare's full attention was now on her as he twirled around and grasped his blade with his left hand and readied his sword arm for the draw. Zoe swung the flat of her sword through the ground with both hands as hard as she could. She cursed inwardly as she was slowed down by the blade digging an impromptu ditch, but she got what she wanted. Clumps of dirt the size of a man's head along with a cloud of smaller clumps sailed through the air in front of her and began peppering Cesare's alert form as Zoe closed. Using the momentum from the last swing, she pulled her sword above her head and brought it down with all her might. Through the seemingly sluggish dirt cloud, the gleam of a jet black blade and glowing Atlantean runes appeared. Cesare's katana gleamed as the very tip reached her armor and began cleanly cutting along her stomach. Zoe's broad sword descended towards Cesare's head, ready to cleave through skull and torso.

Zoe's sword sailed through empty air and impacted the ground, sinking in a ways before she stopped it and brought it into another swing towards where Cesare had sidestepped to. Her HUD reported an armor breach, but no flesh wounds; Cesare had missed, the spar was still on.

Once again, her sword sailed through empty air again as her opponent leaned back to dodge her strike. The hard part was over, and now the harder part had to be handled.

Silver Spoon stopped cheering and simply stared with wide eyes behind her baby blue glasses. Diamond Tiara stopped pacing altogether and gaped at the scene in front on her. One moment Zoe circling the other Mage, and the next there was an explosion of flying dirt and a blur of black. Now the fillies watched as the two mages' limbs became blurs in motion and sounds of metal scraping along metal filled the air.

Silver Spoon sat captivated by the spar before her, reminded of the day she lost her parents and Zoe charging in to rescue her in her giant form. She remembered the insanely quick bloodbath that resulted as the Battle Mage expressed her fury and outrage through violence. The little filly had distanced herself as best as she could from the memories of that day, but now they rushing back and she could not help the tears that began to build in her eyes.

Diamond Tiara stared with a gaping jaw. She'd never seen Warmages in action before; both she and her parents were inside their manor when the invasion had occurred. The first few rounds of cannon fire aimed at Ponyville had struck their home and trapped them in the debris. But now that she was seeing Warmages in action, she was awed by their speed and skill, not to mention more than a little frightened. The little filly began asking herself where the human that was sometimes rather awkward around her and Silver Spoon had gone and where this professional death dealer had come from.

Just as quickly as it began, the spar ended in sudden silence and stillness.

There was a curling piece of cleanly cut armor on the ground between Cesare and Zoe. The piece of armor had come from Zoe. Her left arm was brought up in a sort of blocking position with a groove cut along her forearm. It appeared that Cesare had swung at Zoe with the intention of striking her head, but she had brought up her arm to deflect the katana from a direct path. The katana had continued on when it passed by Zoe's helmed head, and managed to lop off part of the crest atop her helm and now rested in the air above her. During this however, Zoe had made an attack of her own; she had swung her blade as fast as she could towards Cesare's neck, where it was now resting.

The two Battle Mages stayed frozen for a brief moment before separating from each other. Cesare nodded in satisfaction as he sheathed his katana.

"Not bad Zoe." He complimented. "You've gotten faster. Much faster."

"Yeah..." Zoe agreed as she panted and sheathed her own blade. "I got tired of losing in one hit all the time so I worked really hard on my speed."

"Wonderful." Cesare replied. "Would you like engage in some hand to hand now?"

Zoe's reply was to fall into a grappler's stance, and Cesare responded in kind. The red head charged her opponent… a few moments later, she was sent flying face into the dirt with a loud painful thud.

"Uhhh, you can do it Zoe!" Silver shouted while she quickly wiped away some tears, only to wince as another thud resounded. "I think…"

"Barbaric." Tiara commented as the two mages began beating on each other, or rather Cesare began beating Zoe. Yet another painful thud resounded, causing the little pink filly to wince. "I think I'll go work on my trotting… way over there."

"You're enjoying this!" Zoe shouted at her sparring partner.

"Hehehe, maybe a little." Cesare replied.

A short distance away in one of the surrounding tents, Erika's favoured squad sat with a pink unicorn with a light purple and pink mane and tail. It was a rather spacious tent with several bedrolls and hammocks set up between the posts; the sort of set up which only occurred during peaceful deployments or long-term encampments. The squad and pony watched Zoe get defeated again and again for a while before turning away.

"They'll probably be going at it for the next few hours." Jasmine commented from her slowly swaying hammock and reached to the ground for something.

"Seems like it." Keitaro agreed. Emily simply nodded her helmed head.

"So, Sparkler…" Keitaro began as he relaxed in his folding chair. "How are things now that you're back home?"

"Well… it's nice to be back…" The little unicorn smiled half-heartedly. "I just wish I'd got back sooner once I heard about all the terrible things that happened."

Keitaro and Sparkler had met each other about a week ago. The Municipal Mages had cleared most of the wreckage from the land and gone to work on the collapsed train tunnel system heading into the Canterlot Mountain. A few squads from Erika's company were sent along to escort the workers, just in case they encountered Astral remnants in the tunnels. What they found instead was a crushed locomotive and several intact passenger cars with very delirious ponies inside. There were only seven of them so Keitaro's squad was assigned to carry them to Canterlot. Keitaro happened to be carrying Sparkler, who seemed the most coherent out of the seven. She managed to not only remember who was carrying her, but also engage in a little conversation with him on the way to the Canterlot hospital… if one could call the half-coherent babbling she was doing conversation. But it amused Keitaro to no end, enough for him to visit the little unicorn in the hospital and strike up a rather odd friendship of sorts.

When their new and reluctant Captain received orders to move the company to an encampment being set up just outside Ponyville, Sparkler asked if she could tag along to get a free and quick trip back home. Captain Jacobs saw no harm in it and allowed her transport aboard a drop ship. As soon as they landed, she took off saying she'd talk to them again soon, but needed to get back in contact with some family. Now she was back and apparently not very happy with the current situation…

"Meaning?" Keitaro asked in a bored tone as he retracted his helm, revealing his black, blue-streaked hair, and rested his cheek on the palm of his hand.

Suddenly, he was struck in the head with a yellow little seed.

"Don't be an ass, Keitaro." Jasmine stated as she ate a slice of orange from the pile on her chest.

"I didn't do anything!" "You were thinking it."

"Well. Excuse me! I didn't realise you had suddenly become a Master Mind Mage." Keitaro muttered under his breath.

A moment later, an orange impacted the side of his head hard enough to splatter and send him crashing to the floor.

"So of a-!" The Assault Mage cursed as he fell . "… Great! Just great. Now the side of my head is going to get all sticky…"

"Pffft, what are you? A baby?" Jasmine turned her head and raised an eyebrow at her subordinate. "Just burn it off, or better yet, just use that hygiene spell that everyone gets taught in pre-school."

"I'll still get phantom stickiness though!" Keitaro complained.

"Phantom sticky- Assualt Mage Keitaro Urashima, I swear I will hit you with another orange." Jasmine raised a fruit above her head pointedly as she spoke. "Do you want your commanding officer to waste another nice gift from the locals? Do you?"

"No ma'am…" Keitaro said with a theatrical sigh.

"Good."

Sparkler couldn't help but let out a giggle as she watched the antics between the two. While Keitaro wasn't a particularly friendly person, the things he said and did were funny if seen from the right perspective. And speaking of perspective…

"What do you guys have against donkeys anyways?" Sparkler asked curiously.

"Eh? What are talking about?" Keitaro asked as he retook his seat and burned juices off the side of his head with sky blue flames.

"Well you guys are always saying 'Don't be an ass, Keitaro!' this and 'You are acting like an ass again Keitaro.' That. I've actually meet several donkeys and they're pretty laid back. The one in town is not that nice, but he is really old, so he is kinda allowed to be grumpy and… what?" Sparkler asked in confusion as some of the squad began chuckling aloud.

"Cultural differences Sparkler." Jasmine answered with a toothy smile. "Ass means something different for us. You were talking about something wrong in town before, what exactly would be wrong?"

"Oh yeah…" Suddenly the cheerful expression the mare had completely disappeared. "Well… you see, there's this pegasus in town. She is a lot like a mother to me, and well… it meant a lot to feel like I had mother again after being an orphan for so long, I mean I'm old enough to take care of myself I gue-"

"Wait, wait, wait… You're an orphan?" Keitaro interrupted with raised hands. Equestria seemed like such a happy-go-lucky place. The mage could understand the existence of orphans now with the invasion and all; in fact, there were two just standing a few dozen feet from the tent, but before the invasion?

"Yeah." Sparkler admitted with a shrug. "When I was a little filly, my parents and I went on a boat trip to spend our vacation in Manehatten. About halfway there a storm rolled in. Apparently, our Captain's weather schedule was a week off. By the time the pegasus Storm Controllers noticed our boat, we had already been smashed against some rocks. The ship was practically underwater by the time the rescue came; my parents weren't among those rescued. It was a terrible accident and resulted in some large reforms over how information of scheduled weather was handled. They let me stay home in Baltimare long enough to attend my parents' funeral before shipping me off to the National Orphanage of Canterlot and… that's basically it really. I spent the next decade or so in the orphanage, learning the skills I would need when I was old enough to go off on my own, some of the friends I made there would get adopted every once in a while, but I was never really concerned with that."

"Ah, that explains it." Keitaro replied with a nod as he stuck a finger in his ear and attempted to burn out a frustrating piece of orange. As peaceful as this place was accidents apparently still happened. An unfortunate but typical truth. "Right, you can begin again where you left off; I just needed to clarify somethi—OWW!" He was cut off as another seed winged him in the temple.

"Don't be an ass, Keitaro." Jasmine rebuked half-heartedly before turning to Sparkler. "Could you please continue where you left off?"

Sparkler nodded with a small giggle as Keitaro grumbled under his breath. "Well the mare I'm talking about is Derpy Hooves. I met her a few years ago when I first arrived in town; she had actually crashed into me really. After apologising she noticed I was new in town and offered to show me around after she finished her route. We ended up tearing up the town in a whole bunch of weird accidents, which I still have no clue how they happened. Long story short, afterwards Derpy found out I was an orphan and went out of her way to make sure I settled in well and introduced me to Pinkie Pie for a welcoming party."

"So the problem concerns this Derpy Hooves, right? I'm just guessing from all talking about her and the explaining how she affected key points of your life and the like." Keitaro commented before shielding his head when he saw Jasmine about to chuck another orange. "Hey! I'm just saying she should get to the point is all!"

"Sometimes I wonder why she is friends with you, you jerk." Jasmine stated before starting to peel the orange she held.

Rolling her eyes in response, Sparkler decided to 'get to the point'. "Well you see, over the years I grew very fond of her. Kind of hard not to really, despite all the things that seem to go wrong. You can't help but find the effort she puts into trying and never giving up… heartwarming. And she really helped me a lot. I managed to get all my mortgage payments done really early thanks to her, still don't know how we managed to get first place in that contest though… anyways…"

"The point I'm trying to get to is that she changed from the well intentioned mare I knew, and not for the better." Sparkler continued. "When I last saw her, before my trip to Canterlot to visit the orphanage, she was the same mare I've always known, unstoppably upbeat and determined despite the chaos that followed her. Now though… she seems so… broken and unhappy."

"Poor Dinky's death hurt her so badly…" Sparkly's eyes began to well with tears; the little filly's demise caused her no little amount of anguish as well. "I can't bear to see her like this! That's why I'm here; with the kind of profession you guys have you've got to have some sort of experience with…"

Sparkler trailed off as she noticed Keitaro and several other mages in the tent shift their attention to something outside the tent. The unicorn turned to see what had gotten the mages' attention and gasped when she saw it, or rather her.

It was Derpy Hooves, or rather, a poorly kept gray pegasus that could pass for her. Derpy was an utter wreck. Her blonde mane and tail were tangled and straw like, her gray coat was clumped together from the grease that had been building up from the past weeks, and her eyes seemed to have sunken into her skull, with large bags beneath them.

She arrived at the edge of the arena, her dishevelled appearance shocking the two fillies close by and making them step away from her. She turned to a Warmage next to her and got his attention, a rather easy feat considering he was staring at her with a worried expression, and asked him something. The mage listened to the mare for a moment and slowly nodded before then turning to the arena where Zoe and Cesare where still brawling.

"ZOE!" The mage shouted, catching the Cadet Battle Mage's attention and ending her practice. "You… you have a letter." He said with a hesitant point to the pegasus beside him.

Zoe's eyes widened at Derpy's appearance. She quickly jogged forward and came to a stop before the mail mare.

"Hey, are you okay? Do you need help?" Zoe asked as she dropped down to one knee before the pony, only to be ignored by the mare as she reached into her bag with a hoof and pulled out a letter carrying the mayor's official stamp on the front. She wordlessly handed the Battle Mage the letter containing the approval of her custody of the two orphans and began trudging off.

Zoe stood back up, holding the letter limply in one hand, and stared after the obviously troubled pony. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara walked over to the Warmage.

"That was Derpy Hooves, our mail lady!" Silver exclaimed as she looked after the mare questioningly with shocked eyes. "She looks so horrible…"

"While I admit it was nice to see the mare manage to deliver something without destruction involved," Tiara commented with her mouth pursed into a thin line, "her current condition is… very troubling and very much unlike her."

Back at the tent, Keitaro stood up from his seat to stand beside Sparkler, who was staring at Derpy with a deeply pained expression.

"I'm going out on a limb here…" He started. "But I'm guessing that pony over there is Derpy Hooves."

In response Sparkler simply turned to look at Keitaro with pleading expression on her face. "Please help her…"

Keitaro looked back at the rest of his squad and saw that they all were standing up. They each met his gaze and nodded in silent agreement.

"Right…" Keitaro said, cracking his fingers in preparation. "Let's get a pony drunk."

Sparkler blinked at the word she never heard before as the squad left the tent and moved toward Derpy; Sparkler quickly trotted after them.

Erika's favoured quickly closed in on Derpy as she slowly made her way out of the encampment. Upon catching up, they quickly surrounded her. One of the mages reached forward and took Derpy's mail bag from her and began rummaging around in it.

"Hey…" Derpy protested weakly, her mail bag being taken seemingly being enough to bring her to tears. "That's mine… give it back… please?"

The mage rooting through the bag quickly found what he was looking for: Derpy's mail route. He then handed the bag and route to Emily who quickly put the bag around her shoulder and scanned the route, before striding off in the direction of town.

"Shhh, it's alright. Emily is just going to do your job for you for a little while." Jasmine comforted Derpy as she steered the barely resisting mare towards a large tent with a long bar within. "We just think you need a break is all."

"But… but my job…" Derpy protested. "Please let me go… it's the only thing I have left… Please…"

"Hey that's not true." The squad commander retorted softly. "You still have Sparkler, as well as several friends that I'm sure are worried about you."

"Sp-Sparkler?" Derpy said with wide eyes.

In response, Jasmine pointed behind the mare and Derpy turned to meet Sparkler's sad but comforting smile.

"Sparkler…"

"Now come on." Jasmine said as she ushered the mare forward. "I want to show you something, I promise it'll help you feel better."

A moment later eight mages and two ponies entered the tent with a bar. Aside from the bar and its many stools, there were three pool tables in the center of the tent and several dart boards off to the side. In a corner was a large holographic scene with many little electronics on the floor beneath it, while little yellow lights hung from the metal bars that served as the tent's supports. The crowd inside was not very large; there was one mage sitting at the bar enjoying a drink while watching a few of his friends playing a game of pool. Two other mages were playing video games on the holoscene.

A female elf mage with short silvery hair stood behind the bar in her un-deployed armor.

"What can I get Erika's finest?" She asked with a smile. The story of a sole squad and a Captain taking down an Astral Lord had garnered the squad a bit of a reputation.

"Nothing for us..." Jasmine started.

"Well I feel like having a marti-" Keitaro began only to have the back of his head smacked by Jasmine. "Ow…"

"Quiet you." Jasmine scowled at him before turning back to the bartender. "We don't need anything, but this pony here could use a beer." Jasmine said, indicating Derpy who was under her arm but was staring at the ground with a heartbroken expression.

"I'll say…" The elf replied as she took in Derpy's bedraggled form. "Several- no, a whole cold bottle coming right up."

Jasmine took Derpy by her waist and sat her on stool as the bartender placed a bottle and a glass on the bar in front of her. Derpy only stared apathetically at the glass until Jasmine filled it and urged her to drink it.

It didn't take long for her to get buzzed and not long after that to become truly drunk… in fact, there was still enough for another glass left in the bottle. Sparkler was intrigued by the drink and wanted to try one, especially mead as she had a bit of a sweet tooth and the bartender had told her that the drink had honey in it. But Jasmine had told the unicorn she needed to keep a clear head for later, Sparkler only knew what the Warmage had meant by that when Derpy suddenly very friendly again.

So with a glass of orange juice on the bar before her, Sparkler looked on with no little amount of bemusement. At first, Derpy was still depressed. She then suddenly acted like the comforting Warmage sitting beside her had just insulted her enough to try to threaten her with a fight. Jasmine somehow managed to make Derpy keep drinking and her attitude changed again; she started crying and begging the Warmage for forgiveness and asking her to stay her friend. She downed several glasses when Jasmine replied that she would forgive her if she kept drinking. Now the gray mare was practically on Jasmine's lap with an arm and wing around her, telling the mage how much she loved her and how big a friend she was, but not in a fat way.

"Derpy?" Jasmine asked the Mail Mare.

"Yyyyyyes, my bestest friend?" Derpy drawled with a giggle.

"Can you tell me how you lost your daughter?"

Sparkler nearly spat out the mouthful of orange juice at the blunt question. She didn't think the mage would try to bring up such a painful memory, not this early anyway. Suddenly Sparkler was not all that sure about bringing the Warmages into this. She shot a pleading look towards Keitaro, who only waved a placating hand at her.

Derpy stiffened for a moment, and then she moved back to her stool with a sniff as tears just began to build in her eyes. She sat on her stool for a few moments, letting a few tears build and fall before speaking out.

"It was so horrible…" She whispered hoarsely. "I… I just don't know what went wrong. One moment she was in my arms the next she… she…"

"It's alright, take your time." Jasmine said as she rubbed the mare's back, who let out an anguished groan at the memory.

"I was just trying to get her to a safe place." Derpy continued as she stared into the contents of her glass, meeting the gaze of an almost unrecognizable mare. "None of them had wings, I thought if I just flew high enough to be out of their reach and low enough that the ships wouldn't bother us we would be fine. Then there was strange music and everything seemed to turn red."

"The Astral Lord." Keitaro said aloud.

"Who?" Derpy turned to the mage with a questioning look.

"The bastard who crushed my ribcage with Vivian here and killed your daughter." Keitaro replied.

Derpy was quiet a moment before an intense expression appeared on her face. "Is he dead?"

Taken aback by a pony asking that in such a hopeful tone, Keitaro replied. "Hmph, I wish. Over four centuries of experience with these assholes and we still don't know how to permanently kill one. Tear them apart like wet paper yes, make sure they stay torn apart? No."

"Oh… too bad…" Derpy turned back to her drink.

Sparkler stared with a gaping expression, utterly shocked and horrified by Derpy's words. She had to remind herself that Derpy had lost her daughter, but it still disturbed Sparkler by no little amount though.

"How did you survive the encounter with the Astral Lord?" Jasmine asked Derpy.

"… He just stood in front of me, cleaning his blade of… of…" Derpy shook her head, unable to say the next few words. "… He told to me to go on an adventure, experience new things, make loads of friends along the way and solve the problems of strangers I'd just met, and then come after him when I was strong enough."

"Typical adventure plot bullshit." Keitaro commented.

"But… what's the point of doing that huh?" Derpy asked Jasmine. "Even if I did get strong enough, got my wings sharp enough to cut diamonds, got fast enough to rainboom on command like Dash… he wouldn't stay dead would he?"

"Once upon a time Atlantis was a myth, something to make up fun little stories about, yet here we are." Jasmine spoke solemnly to the pony beside her. "Once upon a time it was said that it would be impossible to unify Atlantis, overran by techno barbarians and magical Savages alike, yet today it is the capital of an interstellar empire, a unified seat of power. Once upon a time it was said that the gates and throne of Heaven would never fall to mortal hands let alone be reached by them, yet today it is the site of a massive war memorial and museum dedicated to the efforts of the First Generation."

"What I'm trying to say is…" Jasmine continued. "Just because something is, does not mean it always will be. One day we will find their weakness, it may be not today, it may not be tomorrow or even in the next decade. But mark my words Derpy; one day The Empire will discover how to permanently kill an Astral Lord. And when that day arrives… the Infinite Kingdom will feel the wrath of every orphan, every childless parent and every citizen they have ever hurt with their games. And they will tremble in their new found mortality."

Both Derpy and Sparkler could not help but tremble slightly at the ominous and powerful words Jasmine spoke. The two ponies were suddenly very much reminded that Atlanteans were not at all hesitant when it came to warfare and the death of enemies.

"… The way you worded that." Derpy began after a moment. "It sorta reminded me of that Royal Guard recruiter's speeches… he didn't talk about the eventual demise of an enemy but…"

"And what if the reason it sounded like a recruiter's speech is because it was intentional?" Jasmine asked.

"… I'll think about it." Derpy eventually said after drinking her last glass of beer.

"D-Derpy?" Sparkler finally spoke out.

Derpy hooves turned her head towards Sparkler and her sunken eyes widened before happy tears started to appear in her eyes.

"Sparkler…" Derpy murmured as she reached over and brought the unicorn into a hug. "Did you know I wanted to adopt you?"

"You did?!" Sparkler's eyes widened.

"Yes, you were so much like a big sister to Dinky already." Derpy replied as her voice began to get heavy. "I already loved you like you were mine; I just wanted to make it official. I just wanted to make the both of my little muffins happy. All I wanted was the two of you… to be…"

"Derpy? Derpy?! Derpy what's wrong?!" Sparkler asked in panic before a loud snore filled the room. Sparkler lifted Derpy's head off her shoulder and saw that she was fast asleep.

"Well… I think that was a success." Jasmine commented with a pleased smile.

"Heh, well now we know what Derpy's stages of drunkenness is." Keitaro added. "Aggressiveness, apologetic, friendly, strangely coherent and then she passes out."

"That was so heartwarming and beautiful." The bartender replied as she blew her nose.

Sparkler smiled at the mages around her, feeling vindicated in thinking they knew how to best help her adoptive mother. She knew that Derpy wasn't okay yet; the kind of pain and loss she experienced would take much more time for her to come to heal from. But the first steps were taken, and in the end that was all that mattered.

**-Episode End-**


	18. Elsewhere Episode IV: Black-Op Everfree

Fluttershy smiled happily as she set off into the Everfree , wearing saddlebags in case any herbs or flowers caught her eye. Normally Fluttershy would not dare step into the forest alone but she had seen so many Warmages going to and through, just by watching the forest edge alone she'd thought it would be okay.

As she stepped into the infamous forest she could not help but stare past the canopy at the towering construction that was the Atlantean Embassy. She could only spot the three eye catching spires that constantly released waterfalls now, but earlier she had a close-up look when Erika gave her and the rest of the Elements a tour shortly after its completion. She recalled it very easily…

The embassy was a large circular fortress, made seemingly from beautifully engraved sandstone, constructed where the ruins of the old royal palace once stood. The three spires the embassy had were of varying heights. The shortest was thirty feet, the tallest was sixty, and the third was forty-five. The embassy also had the beginnings of moss, vines and various other forms of creeping plant growth on its outer walls and inner walls of the central courtyard. The central courtyard also held a tropical-themed pool, where the waterfalls from the spires fed eventually into.

The embassy's exterior reminded Fluttershy of some edifice from some ancient civilization in the middle of its golden age… but the inside was much different. The front hard wood doors opened up to a hall leading to a lobby. The interior walls had dark stained oak walls with a scarlet carpet along the floor that seemed to rival the sure softness of the ones in Erika's room while alcoves in the walls had little rich, vivid gardens of exotic flowers lit up by soft blue lighting. The very moment Fluttershy and her friends had walked into the lobby they were met by two large oval floating machines with what appeared to be one glowing blue eye each. The machines spoke in soft friendly voices and offered drinks along with little treats like chocolate bars. The lobby itself was circular and Fluttershy at first thought it had a glass ceiling, but was told it was actually a screen projecting a clear blue sky. She and her friends were greeted by the receptionist, an elven woman with bright green hair wearing a scarlet business suit, from the semi-circle desk in the lobby. The elf gave them a tour showing them many rooms whose mere existence seemed to be displaying technological and magical wonders alike. Fluttershy had seen many things but could only comprehend a few from the pony sci-fi books she had read: mass generators, scale models of massive terraformers capable of turning frozen rocks on the edge of a solar system into garden worlds, model Hab-Spheres which were massive artificial planetoids for millions upon millions of people to live in, the star drive of a civilian Atlantean ship which was described to be capable of averaging fifty light-years an hour, and so much more.

Yes, while the outside spoke of an ancient civilization, the exhibits she had seen inside spoke of an interstellar super power that had yet to meet a match.

By now Fluttershy had arrived in a large meadow to collect herbs in flowers in. Giving a delighted smile to a butterfly fluttering around her nose, she went about her time gathering herbs and beautiful flowers. However, as she picked, she couldn't help but notice something very wrong about the forest today. It was unusally quiet. Usually when she walked into the forest, she could hear the sounds of wildlife: the chirping of bugs, occasional birdsongs, and a few animal calls every now and then. But now the forest seemed to be near silent. The only sounds she could hear were the very hesitant calls of birds. Not only that but she was sure that this meadow used to have Poison Joke in it before, but the flower bed of the magical flora was gone with only an undisturbed patch of soil to mark their disappearance.

Not knowing the cause of these strange occurrences, Fluttershy made her way deeper into the forest. Unsettlingly enough, the forest seemed to grow more silent the further she went in, and a tension seemed to hang in the air; it ate at the pegasus' already frail nerves.

As the ever more nervous pegasus walked, she thought she could just make out something at the edge of her hearing: a soft humming noise, maybe. She practically jumped out of her coat when she heard a loud yelp of pain coming from somewhere ahead of her.

'_Oh no!'_ Fluttershy thought worriedly. _'An animal must have gotten hurt!'_

With that, Fluttershy broke into a gallop whenever the thick undergrowth of the Everfree thinned out a bit. Eventually, she made it out of a slight opening in the trees that lead to the top of a grassy hill. As she approached the source of the humming, Fluttershy pushed aside some bushes and what she saw left her frozen in silent horror.

The humming noise was coming from a very large transport ship that sat idling as it waited to be loaded. What was being loaded and the state they were in horrified the little pegasus. Hovering cargo trains carrying cages of sedated animal life, while large flatbeds held the strapped down and unmoving forms of the forest's largest and most dangerous beasts. A single quarray eel, several hydras, an entire pride of manticores, an ursa minor and even a flatbed covered in plastic capsules holding trays of poison joke. Being prepared to be marched into the ship was a pack of Diamond Dogs with chains around their wrists and ankles. Escorting them was a handful of Warmages shouting in Atlantean and hitting them with their fists or flats of their weapons whenever a Diamond Dog lagged or barked back.

'_I-I got to do something!'_ Fluttershy thought. _'B-but what? How do I- ERIKA! She must not know about this! She would never allow them to do something like this… right? No… of course she wouldn't what am I thinking? I better hurry so this horror can be stop!'_ Fluttershy was about to turn away when something caught her eye. Standing roughly in the center of the loading operation was a Warmage with oddly shaped hands and feet with a long armored serpentine tail writhing in the air behind him. It was then that Fluttershy saw that the mage had a hand pressed against the side of his helmet and… was looking and pointing directly at her. _'Oh no, I'm spotted! I better run!'_

With that Fluttershy turned around to run to Erika's home, only to come face to face with a Battle Mage.

"Ύπουλος μικρό πράγμα δεν είναι;"(1) The Atlantean said as Fluttershy recoiled with a startled shriek.

"Ελάτε τώρα. Έχετε μια καπετάνιος να ανταποκριθεί." The mage muttered as he picked up the little pegasus and threw her over his shoulder. He then began walking to the meadow and towards the other mages as Fluttershy started to panic.

"No! Let me go!" Fluttershy shouted and wiggled in his grip. Her wings were still free and she began furiously flapping them to help escape. Just managing to rip herself from his grip but losing her saddlebags in the process, Fluttershy turned her head to look at the mage to see that he was just staring up at her rather calmly. The little pegasus turned back only to fly headfirst into a black armor-plated boot with a loud painful clank.

"Ω, αυτό ακούγεται επώδυνη." The floating Assault Mage commented with a feminine voice as Fluttershy crashed to the ground with a squeal.

"Σταματήστε να αγωνίζονται, θα βλάψει τον εαυτό σας μόνο." The Battle Mage stated as he picked Fluttershy back up, this time putting her under his arm and pinning her wings.

Now held more securely then before, Fluttershy was carried into the meadow where the loading operation was ongoing. Shaking her head clear of the daze and pain, Fluttershy's vision cleared to find herself being carried within the crowd of busy machinery and Warmages. She was brought close enough to the captured group of Diamond Dogs to notice that they were the same group had had taken Rarity prisoner.

The more bulldog like of the Diamond Dogs suddenly tripped over his restraints and fell away from the group. Muttering words under his breath a Warmage stepped forward to stand the Dog back up by the scruff of his neck. Quickly rolling onto his back the dog snapped at the gauntleted hand with a snarl.

In response the mage quickly give an armored kick to the Dog's ribs, hard enough to send him rolling onto his belly with a pain filled yelp. Placing a foot on the Diamond Dog's back The Warmage withdrew a black handgun with a massive barrel and a transparent tube in the center near the back which held a surging ball of black energy. Seemingly aiming at the Dog's head, the Mage's trigger finger squeezed down.

Eyes widening in horror, Fluttershy quickly turned away as a sound like a sudden surge of water flowing through a pipe filled the air followed by the Dog's yelp and his packs' barking. Unable to help herself Fluttershy strained her neck to look back as the mage who was carrying her walked past. The Diamond Dog was lying still on the ground, his head… was fine. Instead the Dog was staring with wide eyes at the deep fist sized smooth bowl the bolt of black energy had carved out of the ground. He was quickly pulled back onto his feet by the scruff of his neck and shoved back into line.

"Filthy animals." The Warmage said in English. "You all should be glad the scientists have a use for you lot. Imperial policy concerning slavers after all is normally execution on sight. So quiet down! The eggheads only need one of you alive and in one piece after all."

The pack of Diamond Dogs noticeably quieted down after that little announcement and kept their heads down.

"Οι μπλε αυτά αναπτυχθεί πλήρως το δικαίωμα;"(2) Said a Warmage looking at a sedated ursa minor.

"Νομίζω πως ναι... δεν πειράζει έτσι κι αλλιώς." A mage standing next to him replied.

Passing by several Warmages loading cages holding parasprites and fruit bats, the mage carrying Fluttershy finally came to a stop before the other Warmage with the writhing tail. The Assault Mage, whose boot Fluttershy had flown into, had followed and taken up a position over the group, a silent warning that if Fluttershy took flight again she would not get far.

Fluttershy was placed down on the ground before the tailed mage, who only seemed concerned with staring at her for the moment, his arms crossed and one of his clawed gantlets tapping against an armored bicep. The little pegasus' attention was attracted by the tail continuing to writhe in the air, which she somehow gleaned as an action that showed curiosity.

"So… you are our little spy hmmm?" The mage said with a melodious feminine voice, as smooth as silk.

"W-why are you Warmages doing this!" Fluttershy asked with wide eyes. "What you are doing isn't right! You're hurting so many, please stop!"

"It does not matter why we are doing this and who suffers because of it." The mage replied to Fluttershy, voice like so much sweet honey poured into her ears. "The only thing that matters is that we can and will do it."

"How-how DARE you ignore the suffering you're causing!" Fluttershy shouted, glaring up at the tail Warmage. "Look at all you've done! How many homes and families have you destroyed today?! What do you have to say for- wh-wha!?"

Fluttershy stared disbelievingly as the tailed mage started laughing, the very act of which made her ears tingle and sent a shiver down her spine.

"So that is infamous stare I was told about." The tailed mage stated and got down onto a knee to look Fluttershy in the eye. "You caused quite a stir with the programmers you know. They spent so much time figuring out how you made Major Sparkly's optics overload… and then devoted more time to shield against it, something they finished distributing a month ago."

"You… you mean…"

"Oh yes, your stare is no longer capable of affecting us in any way…" The tailed mage said as she brought a clawed hand to Fluttershy's cheek, causing the little pegasus' heart to race in something that was most definitely not fear. "Now do me a favour, look me in the eyes and clear your mind."

"Wh-what?! N-no get off!" Fluttershy screamed and struggled as the tailed mage place her other clawed hand on her head.

"Now, now you were all gung-ho about looking me in the eyes before, what's so different about now hmmm?" The mage asked as her closeness, her voice and the fact she was touching her caused Fluttershy an intense conflict of emotions. "Oh yes, the fact you are now absolutely helpless without your stare and completely alone with no one to help you. After all you are the only pony who would even consider getting near Everfree let alone go for a walk in it… see? No sudden heroic rescue. All. Alone. Just you and me." She whispered to the pegasus.

Tears appeared in her eyes as Fluttershy was forced to stare at the Warmage's visor which began to glow a bright scarlet red. Fluttershy continued to unwillingly stare into the Warmage's visor, as the red light seemed to expand and over take everything else and…and… gung-ho… like water down a pipe…saddle bags falling…

...a yelp in the distance…

"**AHHHHHHHHH!"** Fluttershy screamed as her head shot up. She looked around herself in a wild panic and only saw a wide open meadow of flowers and grass and that she was laying at the base of a large tree, her saddlebags a few feet from her leaning against the trunk.

"Oh… oh my, just a dream… a nightmare." Fluttershy corrected herself, her hoof against her chest and breathe coming in pants. It must have been a horrible nightmare if her heart was racing this badly… good thing she couldn't remember it!

Getting up and putting her saddlebags back on, Fluttershy stepped away from the true she seemed to have fallen asleep under and looked at the sky.

'Oh dear, I must over napped.' Fluttershy thought as she took in the copper tone of the sky. 'I hope Angel and the others are doing okay.'

Making a quick check to see that she had a large enough haul of herbs, Fluttershy made to head back home… but something was bothering her. Even this late in the evening the forest was never this quiet, not even a single bird could be heard in the unnatural silence. Not only that but she had the strangest urge to go in the direction of a neighbouring meadow to check… something…

Frowning as she did so Fluttershy went into the thick underbrush of the woods, making her way to another portion of the forest. It took a few minutes but eventual the pegasus found herself pushing aside some bushes with a deep sense of trepidation.

It was almost anticlimactic to finally push aside the bushes to find nothing. It was just a large clear meadow, not even holding very many flowers or herbs for her to collect; there was nothing for her to see here. So why was she feeling so relieved?

Shaking her head in confusion Fluttershy turned around to walk back into the woods and head home.

Across the meadow Captain Garzardial, commanding officer of the loading team, stepped into sight from behind a tree to watch the little pony disappear.

"Anyone else feel bad about doing that?" Asked a mage on the coms. "I just want to know if it just me but I didn't mean to hurt her with my boot."

"… As soon as I get some free time I'm heading to the bar." Captain Garzardial replied honestly.

"Oh, are you going to play some karaoke again Cap'?" asked a different voice excitedly.

Garzardial chuckled as the rest of her command began asking the same. "Sure, just get everything all set up and I'll sing."

The succubus Warmage couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face from the cheering she heard on the coms.

**-Episode End-**

Rough translations as follows

1: Sneaky little thing, aren't you?

Come along now. You've got a Captain to meet.

Oh, that sounded painful.

Stop struggling, you're only hurting yourself.

2: The blue ones are fully grown right?

I think so… it doesn't matter anyways.

AN: This was actually done for a while and I only realized it when my editor EvilBob told me ^_^"


	19. Chapter 14: Birthday Days (Part 1)

A day after visiting her birth brother, Erika sat at the table of her kitchen, examining the reports from her battalion. Captains Jacobs, Sammy, Frederick and Samantha reported major successes in their assignments; the presence of an entire company of fully deployed Battle Mages proved to be more than enough to scare away most beasts. Vinzenz's company was still clearing out all the nooks and crannies of the ruins, however. The sprite swarms were proving to be surprisingly hardy, not to mention the flower beds of poison joke that seemed to have sprouted in the courtyards, reports of reactions the flower had with Atlantean flames proved to be rather interesting.

Rather than burn away like normal plant life, the poison joke reacted violently, exploding in a large cloud of sparkling blue dust. The 'joke dust' seemed to retain some of its qualities, if one got covered or inhaled too much, and also somehow served as a form of propagation, or at least the report seemed to suggest that. The mages afflicted by the plant had since recovered from the effects, thanks to the efforts of several Combi-Apothecaries. Although from what she read, the Empire definitely needed to further study curing poison joke, if total amputation of the affected area was their only current solution.

Erika brought up her forelegs and looked at her hooves as a holographic keyboard appeared before her. Normally she would just use magic to type up her reports, but… she was rather curious to see just what her hooves could do. Taking a slight breath, Erika reached forward with a hoof and tapped the keyboard with it, causing several keys to light up as they were 'pressed' down and making gibberish appear on the screen. The Warmage tapped the backspace button with the very tip of her hoof and brought it back to look at it.

'_Okay… holding things with my hoof never really seems to work if I think about it.'_ Erika thought as she frowned down at her hoof. _'The same can be said with 'pocketing' things. These sorts of abilities always seem to work exclusively though instinct, so… maybe I should just do it with my focus on my work? Feel don't think, okay let's try this.'_ With that, Erika reached out to the keyboard with both hooves and set to work.

And Erika worked. Atlantean letters appeared on screen, completely comprehendible. Her hooves moved across the keyboard, individual keys lighting up as they were pressed. She focused solely on her written report and nothing else. When she finished the first paragraph, she leaned back in her chair and exhaled loudly, Erika stared at the screen before her, containing her summery of her battalion's progress. She smiled widely as she brought up her hooves to look at them.

'_That worked…'_ She thought triumphantly. _'But more importantly, I found out that my hooves can do much more than I first thought. Hmmm… I wonder what other things I could do with them… I can figure that out later though, got to get my work done first.'_

Erika refocused on the screen before her and began typing anew.

"Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored." Spike sighed as he entered the kitchen.

"Something wrong Spike?" Erika asked absently as she typed away.

"I've got nothing to do." Spike replied as he took a seat in front of the Warmage. "All the stuff I'd normally be cleaning cleans itself now."

"Did you finish this morning's homework?" Erika asked.

"Yeah, it's all done." The little dragon sighed.

"Maybe you can go back to trying figure out the electronics I got you?" The unicorn suggested.

"Meh, I pretty much got a handle on most of them by now…" Spike leaned back in his seat and tapped his chin in thought. "You know maybe you ought to reopen the library?"

Erika turned to spike and arced a brow. "Reopen the library? Spike I'm not exactly a librarian anymore, not to mention the other responsibilities I have now. Beside… wasn't I basically the only one using the place before?"

"Hmph, I guess…" Spike let out another sigh before an electronic bell sounded from the other room.

"I'll get the door!" The baby dragon shouted and burst from his seat to the living room.

Erika smiled after him and returned to her work. A moment later, the sound of the front door opening met her ears, followed quickly by Spike greeting the person at the door.

"Oh, hello miss Octavia!" Spike said. "Can I help you...? Yeah she's here; I'll show you to her."

Erika perked up at the name of the person at the door, the image of a woman with fair skin, long straight black hair, wearing a pink silk scarf with a black sweater and skirt flashed though her mind. Now very curious about the actual identity of the person at the door, Erika closed all the screens in front of her with a wave and stepped into the living room.

Spike was closing the door behind a gray mare with an azure artificial leg, a long black mane and tail, and wearing a pink bowtie around her neck.

"Hello miss, my name is Erika Gefallen." The Warmage greeted. "Welcome to my home, how can I help you?"

"Hello I am Octavia; it's good to finally meet the acquaintance of the commanding officer of the local Warmages." Octavia replied. "As to why I am here, I was wondering if you spare a few moments to converse over a subject of some importance."

"Sure!" The unicorn answered before gesturing to the couch. "Can I get you something to drink? Coffee maybe?"

"Tea would be wonderful, thank you."

"I'll get it for you Erika." Spike quickly said as he darted for the kitchen.

"Oh my, this couch is so comfy." Octavia commented as she sunk in slightly on one of the cushions.

"Shipped straight from Atlantis." Erika replied as she took her own seat in an opposing armchair. "And bought fresh off the Pal Core Furnishings assembly line."

"Well they certainly do wonderful work." Octavia sighed. "I could sleep here."

"They have to if they want to keep their endorsement as the best furniture provider in the Empire."

"What is it like? To live in the Empire I mean," Octavia asked.

"It's fantastic!" Erika answered eagerly. "Our cities are towering hanging gardens with artificial water falls everywhere. But I personally think the nightlife is the best part, dancing, singing, drinking, eating, movies and celebrations in the plazas. You never have to go far for something to do on Atlantis."

"It sounds wonderful, you must miss it." Octavia said with a smile.

Erika shrugged as Spike re-entered with a ceramic teapot covered in blue outlines of tropical plants and some cups. "A long time ago, I missed Atlantis horribly when I left for my first deployment. The plants and waterfalls tend to keep everything moist and cool, the first time I felt dry outside of the family compound was a training mission on a horrible little sunbaked arid world."

"So things were a little wet all the time?" Octavia asked. "I'd think that would get old rather quickly."

"Oh no, it was never wet, though light showers were quite common." The unicorn corrected. "What I meant was that the air always felt so… refreshing." Erika always liked being on Atlantis, just wandering around, taking in the sights, and breathing the air was often enough to justify a trip there. Though it was probably more the sure magical richness of the planet itself, affecting Erika when she was there. In fact, the concentration of magic in Atlantis' atmosphere was the reason why Celestia and Erika's friends had been taken to the compound, nobody was sure if Erika's species would survive the magical radiation on the planet.

"Well, as informative and pleasant as this conversation is, I really ought to get to the point of my coming here." Octavia reached over to the glass table where Spike placed the tea and poured herself a cup. Cup of tea now firmly between organic and artificial hooves, Octavia took a sip and smiled. "Mmmm, now this is an interesting flavour."

"A specially designed plant from plantations on Titan, now what did you wish to ask?"

"You see…" Octavia began. "Yesterday I met a mage with an … interesting condition. I had a friend with me at the time, and she had a rather memorable experience with him during the invasion."

"You're talking about Timothy, one of my Assault Mages." Erika said suddenly.

"Yes, very perceptive of you." Octavia replied. "You can probably guess my reason for being here now, so I'll simply state my question."

"Why is someone who has a mental condition that turns him into an uncontrollable killing machine, not only allowed to wander in public without some sort chaperone, but interact with children?"

Erika let out an annoyed sigh and closed her eyes for a few moments before reopening them. "Timothy is not the only Berserker Mage in the Empire; I trust he made this clear? There are millions of them, and not a single one has ever had an incident in a public place, not one. Not even when defending an Atlantean city on the ground do they go off and start killing civilians. They have only ever unleashed their psychopathy on an enemy, so you can rest assured that you are perfectly safe around _any_ Warmage of Atlantis as long as you mean us no harm."

"Oh… well thank you for making that clear." Octavia stared at Erika. It seemed the Warmage had dealt with this line of questioning before and was tired of it; however Octavia could not help but ask one final question. "But… don't you think it's odd that that many people with the same mental condition would always be able to distinguish between enemies and people to protect?"

"… Yes I do in fact," Erika answered with a frown, "especially because Berserkers only appeared two hundred years ago. So far, they have nothing in common, except that they all develop a magical signature that is almost exactly the same as the Emperor."

"That right there seems like a lead to follow up on." The cello player pointed out.

Erika tilted her head and answered. "It does, doesn't it? Except that faking a _single_ magical signature is incredibly difficult, let alone several million. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that faking signatures require constant concentration that can be traced or a device that can eventually be detected, no matter how well hidden it is."

Octavia stared for a moment. She could not help but notice that Erika was not even considering the possibility that maybe the magical signatures were not being faked, that the reason for the Berserker Mages could be right in front of them. But the earth pony mentally shook her head, there was no reason to be paranoid of the Atlantean Emperor; from what she had heard, he was older then the Princess of the Sun herself. Surely such a being would have the wisdom to see the negatives of psychopathic soldiers under his command, let alone the moral implications. Octavia decided that she was spending too much time around Vinyl, such a doom and gloom pony she was.

'_Vinyl, a doom and gloom pony?'_ Octavia thought in slight amusement and then sighed internally. _'How the world has changed…'_

Octavia finished up the tea in her cup before getting up from the couch and nodding at the Atlantean unicorn.

"Thank you for assuaging my worries miss Gefallen, and thank you for your time." The cello player said.

Erika got up from her seat on the armchair and walked Octavia to the door. "It's no problem, have a good day."

"And you too." Octavia replied before leaving and closing the door.

'_Hmmm… well that was an interesting visit.'_ Erika thought as she walked back to the living room and saw the still mostly full teapot. The unicorn shrugged and took a seat on the couch and absentmindedly waved as she filled another cup with her magic. Instantly the holo screens with her work appeared in the air before her. Taking a sip from the hovering cup, Erika pondered what she needed to write down next in her report.

"Whoops!" She heard Conrad suddenly shout from the guest bedroom before a loud explosion seemed to shake the house.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" Spike shouted from the kitchen.

Erika sighed.

**Λ**

In the week that followed Octavia's visit, Major Sparkly's battalion not only finished their assigned mission of clearing sites for construction and renovation, but began making regular patrols in the forest and around the finished embassy, where Operative Daniels could be found if he wasn't in Canterlot.

Erika was walking the down a street in Ponyville, off to visit Pinkie Pie. She had two little buds in her ear, playing music as she walked and thought to herself. She was also unknowingly singing along as she went…

"…The taste of her cherry chap stick. I kissed a girl just to try it, I hope my boyfriend don't mind it…"

…Much to the nearby ponies' dismay. Oddly, the Warmage continued onward, oblivious to the shocked and embarrassed looks being shot at her by the ponies around her. She was actually thinking about her friend Rarity, who had just gleefully left for Canterlot after Erika received a response letter from Celestia, saying she'd be happy to house Rarity for her stay in the capital. Erika was rather surprised; she hadn't thought Celestia would agree without something in return. After all, they weren't exactly very close anymore, a fact that seemed to cause Erika an odd pang in her chest when she thought about it.

Erika shook her head clear of the troubling thought. She hoped Rarity would have a good trip, but considering how excited she had been, Erika considered that a moot point. No doubt the glamorous unicorn would have many stories of her time when she got back for the birthday party in a few days.

Erika arrived before the Cake's bakery and opened the door, still singing aloud with the song.

"…I kissed a girl and I liked it, I liked it, us girls we are so magical, soft skin, red lips, so kissable!..."

Pinkie happened to be working the cash register when her best friend entered the bakery singing about kissing girls and liking it. While Equestrian society wasn't exactly repressed, they just didn't talk about or do certain things… or people. Pinkie Pie, being a native Equestrian, despite being the mare that she was, simply could not be nonchalant about what just happened in front of her.

"Oh my GOSH! Erika!" A straight mane and tailed Pinkie cried out as she covered the lower half her of face with her hooves.

"Eh, what?" Now brought out of her thoughts, Erika wondered why her friend had shouted out, and why she was looking so embarrassed.

"Why are you singing about something like that?!"

"… I was singing aloud? Uh…" The Warmage turned around to look out a window and saw several ponies on the street shooting strange looks at her. "…Oops?"

"Jeez, why were you even singing about something like that anyways?" Pinkie asked as her blush died down.

"It's just a song about two girls kissing." Erika shrugged as she turned off her music, and then she narrowed her eyes suspiciously when Pinkie's blush returned. "… You wouldn't believe there to be something wrong with that? Do you?"

"Ummm…" Pinkie tapped her chin in thought. "Not really, I mean, why should anypony have a problem with that? Love is love! But… I've never heard anything like that ever happening before. I mean, two fillies kissing?! I guess if they wanted foals they could always adopt…"

"So… you have no problem with the idea of two people of the same gender loving each other?" Erika asked with a raised brow. "What was the problem then?"

"Oh! Well, you silly filly, you shouldn't be singing about stuff like that in that… uhhh, tone…" Pinkie answered with a blush.

"Well as long as you have no problem with someone's sexuality." Erika replied with a shrug.

Pinkie looked mortified before her expression cleared, she turned to look at a wall and muttered aloud. "Jeez, a pony only ever had to talk with their parents about this stuff once, and then talk with their colt or fillyfriend about it when they got one. Now suddenly it's a casual topic that she just has to bring up every other day." Pinkie finished and rolled her eyes at the wall.

Erika stared, her mouth slightly agape and brows furrowed. Her friend was talking to a wall, an absolutely bare section of wall, and she was talking to it. The Warmage closed her mouth and took in a breath; she remembered Pinkie had some rather… odd habits that she was very clearly reminded of with the example before her. With the memory of an early attempt to understand her friend in mind, Erika spoke out.

"Pinkie?" She started tentatively. "… Who are you talking to?"

"Them silly!" Pinkie pointed at the wall she had just finished speaking too.

"… Who's _them_?" Erika asked in some confusion.

"Them!" Pinkie replied with a big amused grin and slightly curled hair, with a look in her eye that clearly stated she thought Erika was acting like she didn't know on purpose. However, her expression changed from amusement to the same confused look that adorned Erika's features as she turned to look at the wall she was pointing at. The expression on her face was almost indescribable, if anything, it would be very alike that of a man who lived in the shadow of a mountain all his life, only to wake up one day and find the mountain completely gone without a trace.

"Huh?! Wha-where are they?!" Pinkie asked aloud as she quickly darted just in front of the wall and began moving her hooves all over its surface, as if she would trigger some sort of hidden switch and uncover 'Them'. "They're usually watching from here, why aren't they here anymore?!"

"Uhhh… Pinkie?" Erika made to approach her friend who seemed to be descending into panic, only her to suddenly disappear from sight and pop up from behind the counter and turn her head about the room in an attempt to locate 'Them'.

'_How did she-'_ Erika started to think when Pinkie dropped out of view behind the counter. She darted forward and looked over the counter to find her friend had somehow disappeared again. That is until she heard Pinkie's voice coming directly from behind her.

"Yoo Hoo! Guys?!" The pink pony shouted as she lifted up one of Erika back hooves to look at it. "Where are all of you?! It's me! Pinkie Pie! Your friendly party hostess? Come on out!"

"I do not think that whoever you are looking for is hiding under my hoof, Pinkie." Erika stated calmly as she gently pulled her hoof free of Pinkie's grasp. "Just who _are_ you looking for?"

Pinkie didn't seem to acknowledge Erika's question and fell into a sitting position with a thump. She strained her neck looking around her and when it finally appeared that she had accepted who she was looking for was nowhere to be found, a gobsmacked expression dominated her features.

"They're… they're not here…" Pinkie whispered completely dumbfounded.

"Pinkie?" If it weren't for the fact her memories painted Pinkie as someone of already questionable sanity, Erika would severely worried for her friend and even then it didn't stop her from thinking that maybe she ought to get her some professional help. "Who is not here?"

"…I guess it doesn't matter anymore…" Pinkie answered with a wan smile.

"Okay… If you say so Pinkie." Erika really didn't like the look on Pinkie's face, or how her mane and tail were hanging completely straight. It seemed wrong for Pinkie to be anything else than her happy, party loving self, so Erika set about fixing that.

"Well… I am here for a reason, as nice as it is to visit you." Erika began. "I'm here to order a large cake for my birthday party in a couple days."

The mention of not only a party, but her best friend's birthday seemed to do the trick for Pinkie. She practically leapt off the floor in realization that she'd forgotten about Erika's birthday party.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry Erika! You almost had to plan a party without my help!" Pinkie pulled out a notepad and pen as her hair began to slowly puff up and curl. "Streamers, balloons- wait, is there going to more than the six of us?"

"Well… yes, I do have more friends than just you five." Erika answered as she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. "I hope you don't mind Pinkie…"

"Why would I mind, you silly filly!" Pinkie replied with a toothy smile, she turned her attention back to the notepad and began to ponder it solemnly as she tapped her pen on her chin. "Are all the other ones going to be Warmages?"

"Yes."

"Okie dookie, hmmm… I don't really know what Warmages like to do in a party." Pinkie pursed her lips into a thin line and stared ahead with a determined look. "I'm going to have to conduct interviews to know what to plan and do."

"Welcome back Pinkie." Erika said softly. When Pinkie turned to look at her questionably she said louder. "I trust I can leave the cake to you?"

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. "Sure thing Erika! It'll be awesome, just you wait!"

Erika hummed as a thought accrued to her. "How is business? Or rather, how is Mrs. Cake?"

"Oh…" Almost immediately, Pinkie's mane and tail lost what curls they had just regained, an act which made Erika wince visibly and curse inwardly at her thoughtlessness. "Well… Mrs. Cake took Mr. Cake's death pretty hard. But she got back to work pretty quickly. I mean, after all, she has to provide for her family by herself now by working two jobs. Things can be pretty hectic with just the two of us… when we actually get orders… seems like not a lot of ponies want cakes and pastries nowadays."

"Is the business going to be okay?" Erika asked in a little worry.

"Actually, yes!" Pinkie responded happily with re-curled mane. "It was slow at first, but then a whole bunch of mages started coming here after you guys set up camp just outside town! So were gonna be A-OK!"

"That's good news." Erika smiled, she was rather glad that some good came out of her issuing a monthly allowance of the local currency to her battalion. The Warmage made a mental note to thank Operative Daniels for the funding he forwarded to her, though she did not know where he got Equestrian bits from.

"Well I'll leave it to you then." The Warmage turned back to the counter and dropped a small bag of bits before walking towards the front door. "I've really got to get back to the embassy and make sure my mages are settling in well."

"See ya Erika!" A now curly-maned Pinkie waved goodbye to her friend.

"See you later." Erika said back before leaving.

'_It's nice to have Pinkie acting like her old self again. The party is definitely going to be fun with her planning it.' _Erika thought happily, until she noticed a small group of three ponies whispering to each other and shooting her looks. _'… I hope nothing bad comes of that. I really wouldn't want to get in trouble with Celestia because I beat up some idiots, and I'm sure Daniels wouldn't want to handle a PR fix. You know what? Why leave things to chance, I'll give them a little warning.'_

The Atlantean unicorn walked down the street until she was next to the group and then stopped. She looked at the three ponies with a narrowed stare and simply stood there. The ponies froze as 'deer in headlights' expressions dominated their faces, feeling very much like they had just found themselves in the sights of a hungry manticore. After a moment longer, Erika softened her stare, slightly, and spoke out.

"Is there a problem I can help you with?" She asked calmly.

"N-n-no ma'am!" answered one of the mares. "We were just leaving! Right Girls?!"

"Oh yeah, yeah, we were just going!"

"Yep!"

And with that, the three ponies darted away, leaving a Warmage with a satisfied smirk behind.

"Heh, civvies…" Erika remarked with a dismissive swish of her tail before continuing on down the street.

**Λ**

"Careful Dashie!" Pinkie shouted to her friend as she balanced several white boxes on her back. "These boxes have the pieces of Erika's birthday cake in them! Wouldn't want them to go splat!"

"I can pull Celestia's chariot with all you guys in it Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash retorted as she carelessly balanced several boxes on her back and hovered a few feet above the ground. "I think I can handle a few dumb boxes."

It was the day of her birthday, and Erika had just gotten a letter from Rarity saying that she would be unable to make it back for her birthday party because her cat Opalence had just gotten sick. After talking it over with her friends, Erika decided it wouldn't be too much trouble to move the party to Canterlot, especially after Celestia reserved a dining room just for them. So Erika, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were just outside Ponyville loading a drop ship with party supplies and waiting for a few invited Warmages to arrive.

"I don't know …" Fluttershy broke in apprehensively. "You've been pushing yourself pretty hard lately; don't you think you should take a little break and relax?"

"Ah come on Flutters!" Dash complained as she set down her load. "If there's one thing, I know its training. I know how to plan my sessions for maximum benefit and minimum downtime, so a bit of trust would be nice."

"Well… okay, if you say so …" Fluttershy agreed hesitantly. So far, the only time Dash had suffered from overexertion was when she lost that race against the Warmage, so Fluttershy couldn't really see a problem with Dash's request, even though she didn't like it. After all, what if Dash pushed herself too hard again and cramped in midair, but without anyone to catch her this time?

From the direction of the encampment came Applejack carrying a large trunk on her back with four Warmages in a mix of casual clothing and uniforms following behind her.

"Hey Pinkie!" Applejack called out. "Ah got the trunk you told me to pick up! And ah I got some of the other party guests too!"

Pinkie Pie stuck her head out of the ship's hold and shouted back "That's great Applejack! Okay everypony, everything is all loaded up! We are ready to go!"

"Alright everybody, you heard the lady, get in!" Erika announced. "It'll only be a short trip to Canterlot, so no Dash, you can't race the ship because it won't do anything for you."

"Horsefeathers…" Dash muttered as she got on board.

Applejack placed her trunk beside the boxes in a line down the middle of the hold and moved join her friends on the right, the Warmages took the opposite ones. Instead of joining her friends or mages, Erika went into the cockpit of the ship to sit in the co-pilots chair. Soon after Erika entered the cockpit, the landing ramp closed and the ship lifted off into the air.

Inside the hold with the ponies and the Warmages, things were a bit awkward. The line of boxes between the two groups seemed to serve very well as both a figurative and literal wall as the silence continued to mount.

The Warmages in front of the ponies were a visually varied little group. There was a woman with long black hair and tanned skin, wearing a pair of sunglasses, a sleeveless white hoodie with a black omega within a triangle on the front, and a pair of black jeans and sneakers; she also seemed to be having a staring contest of sorts with Dash. Next to her was a man with very dark skin, a bald head, crimson eyes with a pair of silver frame rectangular glasses, and a trimmed goatee, while wearing formal wear. Beside him was another woman who had short black hair with a long bang covering one of her emerald eyes, and a pierced bottom lip, she was wearing a black vest with a dark green T-shirt and a pair of black jeans and combat boots. Finally, on the other end of the group was a woman that reminded the ponies very much of timberwolves. She had gray-blue bark skin covered with beautiful intricate curving lines, and a head of hair that was made of long weeping willow branches with bangs that ended just above her eyes; the rest was pulled into a long ponytail. Her eyes were strange in that her irises, pupils, and whites were all different shades of blue. Finally she wore a standard issue dress uniform, a long sleeved black jacket with a pink lambda on the left breast, and a skirt that ended at her knees with polished working heels.

Fluttershy stared in open wonderment of what she thought as a 'half-tree' human. The 'half-tree' at that moment was steadfastly staring at the floor and had her hands folded on her lap, and just happened to glance up to catch Fluttershy staring at her. The two broke eye contact the moment they made it in embarrassment, Fluttershy because she was caught staring and the 'half-tree' because she found someone staring at her. A few moments later, the two hesitantly made eye contact again.

"Ummm… hi…" The two said softly and at the same time, to each other's further embarrassment.

Applejack smiled at this and took it as a signal to break the ice.

"Sooo… name's Applejack," The cowpony began. "This is Rainbow Dash, this is Pinkie Pie, and that there is Fluttershy. Who are you fellas?"

"I'm Captain Jacobs." The dark skinned man replied cordially and then pointed to the hoodie wearing woman, who was still staring at Dash, saying. "Over there is Vivian."

"Hey, nice to meet'cha." Vivian immediately said to Dash who blinked in response, "Ha, I win."

"Dang it!"

"Beside me is Jasmine."

"Yo." Jasmine said in greeting to Pinkie.

"Hi!" The party pony waved back happily.

"And at the end is Emily." Jacobs finished.

In response to her introduction, Emily looked over the ponies with a shy smile and gave a little wave.

"How does Erika know you fellas?" Applejack asked, Jacobs looked like he was about to answer when Pinkie blurted out.

"They're Erika's favoured!" Pinkie answered excitedly.

"How do ya know that Pinks?" Applejack asked.

"I spent the last few days interviewing as many Warmages as possible to make the party fun for everypony!" The pink party mare explained. "I learned whole bunch of fun stuff! Like how many different kinds of alcoholic drinks there are, the best kinds of songs to play, which is mostly old stuff because Erika likes that, and all the Warmages say they don't mind them if they're good… OH! And I learned that Erika and her favorite squad got famous for beating that Astral meanie by themselves! Oops, forgot to mention, these guys are the some of the same Warmages we met when were first arrived in the other universe!"

"Really?" Applejack looked at Jacobs who nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, we were the ones with Erika at the time of you meeting her." Jacobs replied. "Though Jasmine here was off on medical leave at the time, and there were two Battle Mages filling in for Marcus and Keitaro when they both took an AP Rail to the face in an earlier fight."

"Oh…" Applejack didn't know what to make of that, but it sounded nasty. "So there gonna be more of ya'll or…"

"A few of us can only make the party later." Jasmine answered. "But they'll make it, especially Keitaro. I made him promise."

"You know, this is so different from the last time we were in one of these." Rainbow Dash commented as she wiggled in her seat to settle in deeper. "Plus the seats are sooo much more comfortable."

"Yeah sorry 'bout that," Vivian said, "That was us. We made the seats crap on purpose for you lot."

"What? Why?" Fluttershy asked as Dash glared daggers at Vivian who only stuck out her tongue in response.

"We thought that your people had abandoned Erika and were only looking for her because you needed something." Jacobs answered with a shrug. "So we had a little personal vengeance for our commanding officer."

"How could anypony be so cruel as to abandon a child and only try to get them back when they needed them?" Fluttershy asked with an appalled look.

"Happened a few times before," Vivian answered. "People shoot their brats into our territory, hoping they become wards of the state. The book says any kid that isn't adopted by six is made one, so good chance this happens. Usually, the idiots hope whatever programming they put into the kids' heads won't be noticed because a few decades later they'll be back, this time asking their brats to come back to help their 'true family'." The Warmage finished with a mocking drawl and air quotes.

"What happens then?" Dash asked with an angry scowl, what kind of person does that?

"What do you think happens?" Vivian replied with a scoff. "They get snubbed or told off, though a few of the brats tried to reconnect and convince their birth families to just move into the Empire. That rarely works out very well. Idiots throw a tantrum and show their true colors, or the family gets messily split in two over what to do… sometimes literally."

"And the times it did work out?" Fluttershy asked hopefully.

"That only happened once." Jasmine answered. "It was a real typical happy ending. Grateful tears and al-."

"Sorry for the wait folks," the voice of the pilot came over the intercom. "Landing pad was occupied. Going in for landing now."

That seemed to end all conversation in the hold as the drop ship descended. A moment later, with a barely noticeable thud, they landed. The ramp descended and Erika was the first to exit.

The Atlantean unicorn stood a distance away from the ramp and looked on as her friends and mages unloaded the ship. She was about to help when she found herself being pulled off the ground and into an embrace.

"Hey there baby girl! How are you?" Su Li said happily as she tightly hugged Erika, who hung limply in her mother's arms out of surprise.

At first Erika didn't mind the hug all that much, and was happy at her mother's surprise visit. But then she heard snickering coming from Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie, and saw the amused looks on her mages' faces. The violet unicorn realised how the situation looked.

"Mo-mother! Stop it! Put me down!" Erika shouted as she wiggled in the embrace for a moment before managing to wrench herself out of her mother's grip

"Now, now Erika!" Su Li giggled at the cross look her daughter was shooting her. "I'm your mother. I reserve the right to hug any of my babies whenever I want."

"I am not a baby anymore mother!" Erika retorted as her friends closed in with the party supplies in tow. "I'm forty seven years old, and I'll be forty eight later today!"

"WOW! Am I the only pony here who just now realised how much older she is?" Pinkie asked her friends who all shook their head at her in reply.

"To be fair, the mare don' seem that much older." Applejack replied.

"And I'm over a thousand!" Su Li announced with a smile and leaned over Erika to pat her head. "So you'll always be my baby girl in my eyes, kay?"

Erika just tilted her head to side and shot a deadpan expression at her mother before shaking her head. "So why are you here mother? It's nice of you to come for my birthday, but I usually don't see you while I'm deployed."

"I did make sure the date of my arrival was the same as your birthday." Su Li replied before motioning to a large group of mages behind her wearing overalls, lab coats, and a few wearing a power armor cuirasses and gray jumpsuits. "I'm just bringing a few techs and trainers for Celestia and Luna, as well as some other official business before coming to your birthday… hmmm…" Su Li brought up a hand to her mouth in thought as she stared at the group.

"Oh dear… it appears we lost someone." Su Li stated as the group before her began looking around to see who was missing.

"Damn that girl!" Shouted one of the Warmages in the group and near the back. "Of course she'd be the one to wander off! I swear if I find her messing with one of the locals!"

Su Li shook her head in amusement as she watched the Warmage stomp off. "Tsk, tsk, that Leet, such a handful."

Erika stared at her mother in some confusion. Leet? But the AI preferred the masculine form he was 'born' in, not a feminine one. Erika shook her head, she must have heard incorrectly.

"Well Erika, I'm off." Su Li said to her daughter. "Although, you could accompany me if you wish."

More than a little a curious about what her mother was doing, Erika nodded in agreement before turning to her friends and mages.

"I'll meet you all at the dining room reserved for us. You can go surprise Rarity and set up without me, see you all later."

"Okie Dokie Erika! We'll be okay; you can go with your mama!" Pinkie said with a giggle as she and the rest of the party-goers began to leave.

Erika simply rolled her eyes and began following her mother onto a path that led to the palace gardens.

"So, how are you Erika?" Su Li asked. "Handling yourself well I hope?"

"I'm doing well I suppose." Erika answered with a frown. "I just wish Twilight wasn't such a-"

"You." Su Li interrupted suddenly.

"What?"

"Twilight is you Erika," Su Li said to her daughter with a neutral expression, "Never forget that. Your name may be different now, but once upon a time you were Twilight Sparkle, beloved student of Princess Celestia. And be thankful, for I believe that is the only reason you are still friends with those five mares of yours."

"That can't be true, I would've-"

"Erika you quite clearly saw them as willing slaves of a noble, and nothing more." Su Li stated bluntly. "Any time you spent around them was spent in mockery and outright disdain of them. As willing as they were to try to get their friend back, I don't believe their patience and diligence is everlasting, they would have given up eventually. Then where wold you have been with your regained memories?"

"I… I see your point mother…" Erika nodded and lowered her head.

"Now don't be like that." Su Li said with a soothing tone as she kneeled and brought Erika into a hug. "Do not try to distance yourself from the memories, embrace them. Do not think of the experiences as something seen from someone else's point of view, it was yours and yours alone. Kay?"

"… Alright mother, you are right, I shouldn't act like it was someone else." Erika said with a small smile. "That was my life once, even if it was so many years ago."

"Good, now what was it you were saying about yourself?" Su Li asked as she released Erika and continued forward.

"Well I was just saying how I wished that _I_ wasn't so naïve and innocent." Erika replied irritably. "I'm sure it was nice at the time, but it made doing my job a whole lot harder when I was freaking out over the non-existent lives of Astral cannon fodder."

"Well not everyone can be a soldier, Erika." Su Li reminded as they entered the gardens. "Remember that Warmages and Golems fight so that our people don't have to."

"I know mother, it doesn't make it any less frustrating though." Erika said with a huff.

The two Atlanteans walked deeper into the palace gardens. Erika wondered where they were heading for a moment before the sight of Celestia standing next to the petrified form of Discord came into view.

Erika could not help the genuine smile that she flashed at Celestia when she saw her. The Alicorn widened her eyes in surprise at this but quickly and eagerly returned the smile with her own.

"Hello!" Su Li greeted the Princess. "You know in all the time you've spent in my own home, we've never been able to properly introduce ourselves. I am Su Li Gefallen, Empress of Atlantis and all of her colonies but you may call me Su Li."

"Greetings, I am Celestia, Princess and co-ruler of the Kingdom of Equestria." Celestia said with a smile, happy at how refreshingly casual Su Li was being despite the fact she was a head of state. "And you may call me Celestia."

"Wonderful, well I better get on with my business." Su Li stated as she approached statue Discord. She stood before the statue and pulled out a small black rectangular device and aimed it at the statue. A blue light emitted from the top and began moving back and forth over Discord's form as Su Li hummed and waited for the result. A moment later, the light ended and Su Li looked at the device for the result.

"Uh-huh, I knew it." Su Li stated.

"Knew what Su Li?" Celestia asked as she walked over to the Atlantean Empress' side. "What does it say?"

Su Li looked at Celestia and said quite pleasantly. "Discord is an Astral Lord."

Erika raised her eyebrows, but wasn't really all that surprised the reality warping draconequus was an Astral lord. She was actually rather surprised that her mother had managed to get such a clear and definite result without sending the scan out to be studied.

'_Must be an upgrade of some sort.'_ The unicorn Warmage reasoned.

Celestia, however, was not taking the news as easily as Su Li and Erika were. She had always known Discord was dangerous, but she never realised just _how_ dangerous until now. She distinctly remembered her first confrontation with Discord with her sister at her side. How he would dance about and teleport out of their spells, never once taking them seriously, Celestia now realised why.

'_He could have killed us.'_ Celestia recalled the Astral Lord Erika and her mages fought. _'He could have killed us so very easily. I always thought he was just being arrogant, the way he treated our fight for the people's freedom from his reign as one big game. But it really was a game to him wasn't it? Well… it didn't work out for him the way he wanted didn't it?' _The alicorn thought as she gave a hard stare to the petrified being before her.

But now that Celestia knew what Discord truly was, she also knew just how dangerous he was. She already knew Discord could warp reality, but the discovery that he could open a portal to his home and call forth his fellows, along with an endless supply of whatever he desired, was troubling to say the least. The last Astral invasion devastated the core of Equestria, and would have been financially crippling had the Empire not decided to provide relief and reconstruction free of charge. But that was what _one_ Astral Lord did, what if hundreds had poured out of the tear? With the Atlanteans by her side, they would have eventually been beaten back, but at what cost? Last time thousands of her ponies died… Celestia shuddered at what might be the cost of the next one, hundreds of thousands, millions... _all of them?_

'_And to think… all it would take to free him is one clumsy pony bumping into his pedestal …'_ The Princess thought with wide eyes.

Su Li looked intently at Celestia's expression as she stared at Discord. She briefly studied the emotions that appeared at her announcement: shock, realisation, fear. She guessed that Celestia was trying to come to terms with having such a massive threat in her backyard, but couldn't do a mind plunge to be sure, Ezekiel had inadvertently show Celestia how to spot those.

"Considering the newfound danger of your prisoner and the… state of his prison," Su Li motioned to the practically unguarded gardens to the Princess' embarrassment. "The Empire would gladly accept his transfer into our custody."

"That is something I am very willing to do." Celestia replied, rather eager to be rid of the Astral Lord. "It is also something I believe we should discuss at length."

"No problem! Erika, I'll see you soon at your birthday, kay?" Su Li said turning to her daughter.

Taking the obvious dismissal, Erika nodded. "See you then mother… perhaps you as well Princess, if you can spare the time."

Giving a beautiful smile at the offer, Celestia replied. "I'll take a look at my schedule, but I'd be delighted Erika, thank you."

"I… hope you'll be able to make it Princess." Erika said before turning and walking away.

"Erika!" Celestia called out and caught the Warmage's attention. "You could call me Celestia if you wish."

"… I believe I'll do that… Celestia." Erika said before continuing on her way.

Smiling at the departing form of her once student, Celestia turned back towards Su Li, who was giving Celestia a wide smile.

"Someone looks happy." Su Li commented as she motioned for the Princess to follow her.

"Before her departure from this world, I used to have a very close relationship with your daughter." Celestia replied.

"Oh really!" Su Li said with an oddly wide smile.

"Yes, she was my student you see." The alicorn explained. "We used to be so very close. Astronomy lessons were always her favorites. I liked them as well, the long nights spent we together with a beautiful clear moonlit sky above us…"

"Oh ho ho! Please, do go on!" Su Li urged as she giggled impishly.

Celestia blinked and stared in confusion at the look on the Atlantean Empress' face. "… Su Li, I can't help but feel you are implying something, though I know not what exactly."

"Hehehe, no it's alright. If you can't get it by yourself then I'm not going to explain it to you." Su Li replied with a cheeky smile. "Just think of it as cultural differences acting up between."

"Oh."

"Now, on to important stuff." Su Li said as she came to a stop. "Having Discord transferred into Imperial custody is an important topic to discuss, but right now there is something far more important, namely, discussing your ability to imprison an Astral Lord."

"Why is that?" Celestia asked.

"Because all we have done in an attempt to hold one has failed." Su Li answered solemnly. "We even tried to lock one in a moment in time for all eternity, it still broke free. Don't you see Celestia? We have tried and failed for four centuries yet you unknowingly tried once and succeeded completely and utterly. In light of this, I have to ask of you."

"And what would that be Su Li?" Celestia asked, though she felt she knew what the answer was going to be.

"Please demonstrate your ability to seal an Astral Lord." Su Li replied. "We want you to briefly free Discord, and seal him again to show us how it's done and to do it soon."

Celestia was already shaking her head. "I'm sorry Su Li, I can't. Before finding out Discord's true nature I would still be loath to agree. Now, with the truth of the danger he poses to my people, I just can't risk it in good conscious."

"I can see why you won't agree to this." Su Li stated understandably. "But I would like you to reconsider. Closing a tear will temporarily prevent any new tears from opening in the same area, preventing any Astral Lords from escaping or summoning assistance. Discord would be significantly weaker now than normal."

Celestia frowned deeply. She was still against the idea of releasing Discord, however brief his freedom might be, but the Atlanteans were definitely suffering from Astral assaults. Denying this event would put the blood of countless dead on her hooves by denying people the ability to properly defend themselves. So since Discord would be weaker…

"…Very well Su Li." Celestia agreed with a sigh. "I will release Discord in order to demonstrate the Elements of Harmony. However, I will only allow this to happen if the Empire will provide extensive security to it."

"Of course Celestia!" Su Li answered with a wide triumphant smile. "We wouldn't have it any other way."

**-TBC-**

****AN: Here it is! It's not the whole chapter like it was originally planned to be but my editor DoomManta says he needs more time to edit the other half of it and suggested I post it in two parts. I agreed since you guys waited long enough for this and deserve a something even if it is only half of something. Also, this story does have one piece of Fanart for it, if anyone is curious to see it simply look for this story on Fimfiction the pony fanfiction site!


	20. Chapter 14: Birthday Day (Part 2)

Erika was currently walking down one of the many halls of the palace. The sounds of construction could be heard only faintly as more and more of the work was finished. The Warmage turned a corner to find Keitaro pouring out the fuel from a lantern into a cup. He was wearing a bright blue hoodie with the hood down, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of white and blue sneakers.

"Keitaro, glad you could make it!" Erika greeted the Assault Mage as she approached.

Keitaro turned to Erika as he brought up the cup and drank from it before waving absently and greeting his CO. "Hey there major, a bit lost, so if you don't mind…"

"Again? Seriously Keitaro if you weren't so competent in combat I'd wonder about you," Erika replied jokingly as she motioned for her fellow mage to follow, "But seriously, thanks for coming."

"Eh, no problem major." Keitaro replied, waving off her thanks. "I wasn't about to miss my CO's birthday… Jasmine would hurt me."

"Ah, now that's pretty good reason !" Erika commented with a smile.

"Yeah, though why I would miss the chance at having free cake with creamy icing I have no clue." Keitaro said with a shrug. "I just wish the party wasn't being held at the palace of places, the embassy was a _far_ better place for this all things considered."

"Why is that?" Erika asked curiously.

"Seriously major?" Keitaro said, flashing an incredulous look at his superior. "You don't know? Damn you really have changed… Anyways, the reason why the embassy would have been better is because of all these da-"

Keitaro was cut off as a group of ponies emerged around a corner he and Erika were approaching. If the expensive jewellery, tuxedos and gowns they wore were any indication, they obviously were nobles. Erika stopped and tensed up as she frowned openly at the nobility in front of her; Keitaro's reaction was more much more extreme.

The Assault Mage's eyes became yellow and slitted, his nails extended into sharp claws, his hair stood wildly on end and his mouth filled with fangs as an infuriated cat-like hiss came from his mouth. The group of nobles shouted in shock and surprise from suddenly meeting with a startlingly bestial mage, a few looked like they were prepared to bolt at a moment's notice. Just as quickly as it happened, Keitaro's suddenly bestial features faded away and he was left just as human as he started, though the pure hatred on his face was still rather startling.

"So what do we have here?" Keitaro asked in a mocking tone. "Spoiled, inbred, overgrown brats traveling in a pack? I think so~"

"My word!"

"Why I never!"

"Now see here! You-"

"Shut the hell up! I'm sure you can _afford_ to be quiet for one miserable moment." Keitaro sneered, incidentally showing off a mouth full of lengthening fangs. "In fact, you probably swim in it every day. The ill-gotten gains of countless taxed generations! And all yours to spend with as you please," the Assault Mage drawled spitefully.

"Why the nerve of it all!" A mare in gilded clothes shouted. "I'll have you know my family worked har-"

"Oh, the family, how could I forget the family?!" Keitaro interrupted loudly. "But then, could they really be deserving of the word? After all what is marriage for nobility other than a business partnership, and any children the result of a _breeding_ contract?"

"In fact, when you get down to it…" The mage continued. "How are _any_ of you better then breeding stock!?"

Silence. Keitaro's tirade stupefied the group in front him, rendering nearly all of them gaping in silent shock at the Atlantean. In face of this, Keitaro snorted disdainfully and stormed passed the nobles and down the hall leaving Erika still standing in front of the nobles.

Erika, for her part, sincerely wanted to join in Keitaro's rant and add her own insults to the mix. But the unicorn Warmage found herself unable to do so, stuck in place by the sudden influx of memories about the nobility of Equestria. She remembered the nobles, how stuck up they were, and the way they liked to flaunt their wealth… but she also remembered that while they could be jerks, they were not heartless. The knowledge of so many charity events and balls made itself known in the Warmage's mind, showing her the nobility donating vast sums of their wealth, sometimes more than enough to make a noticeable dent in their coffers, to ponies in need.

Erika stared dispassionately at the nobles before her for a short moment, teeth grinding slightly in aggravation and the need to vent it. After a brief moment, she turned, without glaring or growling, and trotted quickly after Keitaro.

"Excuse me! Miss!" A white coated, blue maned stallion in a suit and wearing a monocle shouted after her. "I wish to speak to you for but a moment please!"

Erika looked back over her shoulder, but continued trotting forward. She gave an emotionless stare at the stallion before deciding to ignore him and catch up to Keitaro.

A moment later she was walking aside the still-seething Assault Mage.

"They are why I think it would have been a better idea to have the party at the Embassy." Keitaro stated.

"I admit, it probably wasn't the best idea be here," Erika commented as she brought up a visor over her eyes. "Hmmm… according to the time, the Princesses should be setting the sun and raising the moon soon."

"Hmph, the fact this planet hasn't melted from the sun being accidently brought too close is a miracle in itself," Keitaro commented.

**Λ**

"… It was unquestionably the worst disaster to ever befall Equestria, or any nation in the world's history." Celestia said. "Over five thousand of my ponies were killed by the Astral Lord and his forces."

"Five thousand?!" Su Li remarked in wonderment. "That's incredible! To suffer so little…"

"Incredible?" Celestia replied, feeling very much insulted by how the Atlantean Empress seemed to see her people's horrific loss as only a 'little' suffering. "Five thousand of my people are dead Su Li."

"I know, there is no need to remind me." Su Li responded. "You are so very lucky to have not lost so much more. The people of the Empire were not so fortunate."

"Just… just how many did you lose?" Celestia asked, cursing her own curiosity as she did.

"A relatively small number overall," Su Li answered with a shrug, "Twenty one point eight billion permanent fatalities."

Celestia's eyes widened in horror as she gaped at the Atlantean ruler, both at the mind boggling number of dead and how casual Su Li was.

"That's… horrible!" Celestia shouted, completely unable to truly voice how she felt about it. "But how can you be so blasé about it? If my people were to suffer such losses, I don't think I'd be able to stand it!"

"It's rather hard not to be." Su Li replied with a small smile that did not reach her eyes. "Your kingdom is small, Celestia, you are able to meet with the people and make connections with them. Even more so, considering how casual you like to be with them. My Empire holds several hundred star systems and over a thousand worlds, with countless souls living in it. I only ever glimpse an infinitely small fraction whenever I go out among them, all other times they are simply numbers on a screen. It's… hard to feel bad for the big number when a small number gets subtracted from it."

"A ruler should always feel for their subjects." Celestia said with a sad shake of her head. "But I can understand your situation somewhat. As the ages go by, and my ponies grow in ever larger numbers, I have begun to fear the day when they became mere faces in the crowd, a part of the background, something to ignore."

"This line of conversation is far too gloomy for my tastes." Su Li commented and got an agreeing nod from the Princess. "Your talk of ages reminds me of your godly nature and power. Just how strong are you?"

"Well…" Celestia began in thought. "I never really tested it, but I can teleport all over my kingdom without much stress… as well as teleport others great distances…" Celestia said with a glance toward the sky before suddenly flaring out her wings. "I am certain I can out cut any of my guard with my wings, however I do not know just how fast I can fly. Ever since my subject Rainbow Dash demonstrated her ability to perform the Sonic Rainboom I've been curious if I could do so as well. I've never really put aside the time for it though, I suppose I never thought of it as important. Physically I have always been very fit, but … in the past I was in much better shape… a fact I that was rather painfully proven to me just a month ago."

'_Was it really just a month ago that I was fighting an Astral Lord?_' Celestia thought to herself. _'It seems so much longer than that.'_

"Hmmm…" Su Li hummed in thought as she tapped her lower lip. "You sound rather spot on for a physical god, or you would if it weren't for the physique degradation. Have you ever thought about putting aside time for getting back into shape?"

From what Su Li had gathered about her combat skills from HUD recordings, she had great power, but had very mundane reflexes. If it weren't for that, the alicorn would probably give a newly-inducted combat PMD a good fight.

"I had entertained the idea a few times, for the sake of supporting my Royal Guard when the need was great if nothing else," the Princess answered, "I could never really find the time for it though. I was always so busy with administration and spent my free time with either my student or meeting the people. Relearning and conditioning my body back into fighting form seemed so… unnecessary after all this time of peace and prosperity… look how well that turned out…"

"Now, now, no need to be like that." Su Li replied and placed a hand on the alicorn's shoulder. "A thousand years of easy living and peace can make anyone complacent. I'm sure with a little work you can be Celestia: Warrior Princess in no time!"

The Sun Princess gave a little laugh. "Where would I start though? I suppose I could question Shining Armor and trainers in the Royal Guard, but I doubt their routines would be very helpful for one such as me. And I would need an exorbitant amount of time for such exercises."

"Well, you do have Atlantean trainers here now," Su Li said, causing Celestia's eyes to widen in realization. "Tell you what, I'm going to be here for a little while as well. Perhaps I could give you some pointers and guide you through some routines before I return back to The Compound. I'm sure you can find time for this. Sometimes in order to help others you need to help yourself first. And besides, don't you have a sister? I'm sure Princess Luna would be more then able to cover for at least some of your duties so you can free up some more time to yourself."

"Luna? Oh dear! I'm going to be late! Thank you for the talk Su Li, it was both productive and enjoyable, but I must be going, it is about time I meet with my sister to switch the sun and moon." Celestia said as she quickly began walking out of the gardens. "I'll be sure to think about what you said!"

Su Li stared after the quickly retreating alicorn before nodding her head in decision.

"Celestia!" the Atleantean Empress called out. "Do you mind if I could accompany you to watch? I don't think I have ever seen anything that could compare to what you are about to do."

"If you wish to Su Li," Celestia called back. "I should warn you though, it's not something very spectacular to watch. It is just the sun and moon moving across the sky after all."

'_The fact you are moving them at all is exciting enough.'_ Su Li thought in reply as she quickly strode to the alicorn's side.

The two rulers made their way into the palace interior. Since it was nearing sundown, the construction workers had left for the day, leaving the halls empty and quiet. As Celestia led the way to the balcony she and Luna usually did their most important duty from, she thought about the one following her there.

Su Li Gefallen, Empress of the Empire of Atlantis. A very cheerful, motherly sort, and if Celestia could trust her instinct on this, she was one who could be cheeky and impish if she felt at ease with the people around her... or if she felt they deserved it. But what interested Celestia most was her relationship to Ezekiel, her husband. He was one of the few beings she had ever meet to not only rival her age and power, but surpass it, and he was married with children, _many_ children. That alone spoke much of the love for each other present in their marriage, having children was most definitely not something one did without forethought. And from what Celestia knew, the two had been having children for over four decades, as there was an intervening generation between Erika and the current one Ezekiel and Su Li had.

'_I wonder how long they have been married to each other.'_ Celestia thought to herself. It was a sort of question that did not come up very often, and Celestia hadn't read any books that had given the Atlantean rulers much, if any, attention. _'Perhaps I should ask?'_

"Su Li?"

"Hmm?"

"I was merely wondering how long you and Ezekiel have been married to each other," Celestia stated. "How long I and Ezekiel have been married?" A light smile adorned Su Li's features and her eyes glazed over as she recalled old memories and pulled out a small glass container. "It's been over a thousand years now since Ezekiel and I were married…"

"So all the Gefallens are descended from just the two of you?" Celestia asked in wonder as she looked at the contents of the container, there appeared to be a piece of ratty old cloth, but Celestia thought she could make something more to it than that.

"Yep!" Su Li answered with a smile as bright as the sun. "Every single one is my baby or my grandbaby. I love every single one of them, though they don't always like how I show it!" She said with an impish giggle as she brought up the container to look at it. "… I remember when I was eleven and first met Ezekiel. It was my first day at my boarding school, what a shy little wall flower I was back then. I remember how mortified I was to stand in front of the entire school and be introduced; all I wanted to get out of the focus and into my seat. Then a strange boy with a pink silk scarf sat next to me and started talking to me. Oh I remember the burning in my cheeks from just being one person's focus of attention, but he kept talking, and I couldn't help but open up to him and talk back. That day I had made my first and best friend, it was also the first unplanned event in my entire life. I was frightened of what my parents would think of that, but at the same time I couldn't bring myself to care. I had a friend, and he made sure to always include me in nearly everything he did."

"The years passed, and Ezekiel and I were still the best of friends," Su Li continued. "But I wanted something more; I wanted my best friend to become my boyfriend… and my lover, my husband and the father of my children. So in my fourth year, I confessed to him, I was so scared! Here I was, a little girl still going through puberty, and I was confessing my love to my best and only friend, I was terrified I would ruin our friendship, but I did it anyway! He was as surprised as I was scared, and on that day I learned of Ezekiel's true age and nature, it's shocking to learn that the one you love is a fabled Atlantean over a thousand years old.

I took the next day off to think, and I decided it did not matter what he was or how old he was, Ezekiel was still Ezekiel, and after all, he had simply passed off his intelligence as precociousness, so his personality was not an act. So I went about telling just that to Ezekiel, naturally he did find the rather massive age difference to be very off-putting, but he did respect my feelings if nothing else, and was willing to ease me into a sort of pseudo relationship. From then on we both saw everything we did onwards in a different light, but there was really no difference in how acted towards each other. Though we did do 'couple' stuff every now and then, like that school ball he took me to. That was where I managed to weasel my first kiss out of him!" Su Li said with a proud fist pump before giggling.

"I remember those days very fondly." Su Li said with a happy sigh before showing Celestia the container. "This is quite possibly the only memento of my times in that school."

Celestia took a closer look at the ratty cloth and found she was right in thinking there was more to it than what a first glance said. The cloth was very old and moth-eaten, but there were some details that could still be made out about it. It was seemingly shield shaped, with decorations around the top and sides that had degraded into dirty brown lose fibers, along with another one that was along the bottom but was partly intact though very faded. In the center of the 'shield' was the faint outline of some bird, a pigeon or maybe a raven. On the bottom decoration remnant was a word or part of a word. 'CLAW' was what some bits of flayed blue fibers just managed to say.

"I honestly don't know why I don't just have the thing restored." Su Li remarked as she brought the container back to have one last look before pocketing it. "I think it's just to remind me just how long ago those days were."

Celestia could not help the pang in her chest as Su Li sighed happily on their way to their destination. Despite having her sister for company, she longed to find one she could share her heart with, but watching the friends she made amongst her mortal subjects die of old age was hard enough as it was. Though she would never admit it, the potential heartbreak of watching a lover do the same would always scare her away from pursuing such companionship, though she still longed for a family of her own and often substituted students to fill the void. The sight of a fellow immortal not only finding love but never have to worry about him or the resulting children withering away made her feel… bitter.

Finally, the two arrived at a pair of glass double doors leading to a balcony where Luna was awaiting her sister's arrival. Celestia opened the doors with her magic and the two walked through onto the balcony.

"Celly you are bit lat-Oh! Who is this?" Luna asked upon seeing Su Li just behind her sister.

"Luna this is Su Li, the Empress of Atlantis." Celestia said before turning to Su Li. "Su Li, I would like you to meet my Sister Luna, Princess and Alicorn of the Moon."

Luna stepped closer and bowed her head slightly. "Greetings, Empress Su Li."

"Hello!" Su Li smiled warmly and gave a little wave. "You could call me Su Li if you want, and if you do, could I call you Luna?"

Luna tilted her head and gave Su Li a curious look. "… I remember when rulers considered the practice of poise and grace to be an absolute must. A thousand years later, and everypony except the nobles are as casual as can be." Luna said with a slight sigh before widening her eyes and realising her statement could be taken as an insult. "Not that there is anything wrong with that of course. Ahem… yes, you may call me Luna, Su Li."

"Su Li is just here to watch us work," Celestia said as she smiled at her still slightly awkward sister.

"Well, let us get to it then sister," Luna replied and nodded towards the sky.

Celestia and Luna walked forward until they stood just before the banister of the balcony. As one, their horns glowed with power as they manipulated their respective celestial bodies.

Su Li watched it all with rapt interest. She watched as the sun, an immense ball of burning gases several hundred thousand times bigger than the planet it orbited millions of miles away, was made to move across the sky by the whim of one being before her. She watched as the moon, a large barren natural satellite capable of causing devastating tidal waves should it come even slightly closer, was expectedly moved into view and into the now darkening sky.

And as she watched, Su Li made sure to note the portal ship, barely a dot in the sky above. And how aboard the ship were hundreds of expert personnel with innumerable sensory equipment watching the event like her and scanning and recording every single magical fluctuation, no matter how small. And that they had been doing it ever since they first arrived nearly three weeks ago.

'I wonder what a population of a planet would think if the star they were orbiting started on a rapid crash course with them?' Su Li thought with a giggle.

**Λ**

Under the light of the darkening sky through the windows, Erika and Keitaro continued along the halls until they arrived at their destination, a large pair of sturdy oak doors. Stepping forward, Keitaro threw open both to reveal the dining room reserved for Erika's party.

Pinkie had down a great job, as could be expected of her, decorating and getting food and drinks everyone would enjoy. There were black flags and banners bearing the pink lambda of Atlantis hanging along the walls and from the arches, as well as a few bunches of balloons with the same color scheme and pink streamers flowing in every direction. In each of the high corners of the room was a small little speaker for the music, Pinkie was actually being held up by a hovering Vivian while she was affixing the last one. There was a long dining table dominating the middle of the room, on it were several coolers containing a wide variety of alcoholic drinks, many kinds of chips and junk foods, along with Erika's large, multi-layered vanilla cake, which strangely seemed to have many different kinds of other pastries stuck in it. Erika wasn't all too sure about the cake, but considering how her pony friends were longingly staring at it, she was more than willing to trust Pinkie.

Nearly all of Erika's invited guests were here, her brother Conrad, pony friends, and half her old squad, all in casual clothing. But one other person, Captain Alexandria, seemed to have not been able to make it. Unfortunate, but considering the circumstances, Erika understood why.

"Alrighty, done!" Pinkie exclaimed. "You can set us down now Vivian! Thanks for the lift, hehe!"

"Really?" The Assault Mage blinked in surprise as she settled down. "I'd thought you'd at least need me to tell you how to get it set up right."

"Oh it ain't that hard!" Pinkie replied as she leapt out of Vivian's arms. "You just match up the colors with the other colors. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!"

"What colors?" Vivian asked as Pinkie bounced away to a little gray brick on the table.

Coming to a stop in the front of the brick, Pinkie waved her hoof cheerfully in the air to activate it. The party mare stared up at the holo-screen with a deep pondering expression, the effect further enhanced by the hoof on her chin. What she hoped to gain was not immediately clear, as the screen that had popped up was in Atlantean.

"Sorry," Jacobs said as he approached, "I forgot that Equestrian was not a formatted language yet. Here let me just-"

"Nope, I got it!" Pinkie Pie replied happily as she raised a hoof over her head. "Now let's see… enie meanie minie moe, enie meanie minie moe, enie meanie minie moe!" Pinkie shouted as she jabbed her hoof forward and randomly picked incomprehensible symbols or words to her.

Surprisingly, it seemed to have worked, since techno music began to play softly in the background while the screen displayed flashing and shifting explosions of color.

"How did…" Jacobs started before shaking his head, it must have been luck .

"Hello Pinkie," Erika greeted, "Good choice of song, I actually like to listen to that when I go to sleep."

"Hi Erika!" Pinkie said as she bounded forward towards Erika. "Wha'cha think of my cake huh? Isn't it delicious looking?!" She asked with an expectant smile and tilted her head.

"Hmmm… well it certainty is interesting to look at," the violet unicorn replied. "I'd have to taste it though to give you an honest opinion. What gave you the inspiration to make a cake like this though?"

"Oh it's just a little idea I had for the future," Pinkie admitted. "And it's only a prototype! The final product will be even tastier and more scrumptious looking than this!"

As Erika turned away to check out everything else, she spied Captain Alexandria, and someone she didn't recognise. He must have been her date. Alexandria was wearing some casual clothes for the party; she wore a black leather jacket over a red tank top with black jeans and a pair of combat boots, she also had her hair pulled into a long ponytail for the evening. Her date was a rather unremarkable looking man with dark brown hair, equally dark brown eyes, and a nervous expression; he wore a plain white dress shirt un-tucked over blue jeans with a pair of gray, blue and yellow sneakers.

Happy to see Alexandria and wondering who her date was, Erika approached the two.

"Captain, I'm glad you could make it!" Erika greeted happily.

"I'm currently off duty Erika, you can call me Alexandria," the captain returned the greeting with a smile. "The final Tear was closed yesterday, freeing me up for the time being. It helps that I was commanding a ship with an Alpha-Omega Cannon."

"That's great news, it's finally over." Erika smiled before turning to Alexandria's date. "Hello, I don't believe we have met, I am Erika Gefallen."

"I'm Jeremy," the captain's date replied with a small smile managing to break through his nervousness. "I've seen you around before."

"Oh, are you one of the ship's bridge technicians or…"

"Something like that," Jeremy answered with a near unnoticeable smirk.

"Jasmine!" Alexandria called out suddenly. "Could you come over here for a moment?"

Making her way over from ogling the cake with Keitaro, Jasmine came to a stop before the off-duty captain. "Ummm, yes Captain?"

"Are you still deadlier with katars than with the standard issue sword?" Alexandria asked the Battle Mage.

"Yes ma'am," Jasmine answered, "And I've only gotten better since the last you saw me."

"Good, because though it is Erika's birthday, I have a gift for you." Alexandria presented the front of the case to Jasmine and opened it with a click. "Very few of these have been actually commissioned for use."

A shocked gasp escaped Jasmine's mouth as her eyes widened in adoration. Inside the case was a pair of runed katars. Each katar had one thick and long blade in the middle with two smaller ones on each side, spread out like an open pair of scissors. Both katars had polished silver hand guards, along with handles designed specifically for Jasmine's grip.

The now gleeful Battle Mage took the blades reverently from the case, the very moment Jasmine held the blades properly, the two smaller side blades slid out of sight over the middle one. She then took a step back before assuming a stance, immediately punching the air with lightning fast strikes. The exact moment she finished fully extending her arm during a strike, the side blades snapped out to the side until they were fully perpendicular with the larger blade, before snapping back out of sight. The ponies in the room could not help but gasp at the blurring show of skill and speed, while the Warmages watched in admiration and absently noted where Jasmine would be striking on a human opponent.

'_Heart cleanly cut in half, the side blades would have cut open both lungs, and the other katar… stomach sliced open, side blades lop off a chunk of the liver and cut the spleen in half, as well as open up the large intestine, spilling its contents… stomach acid would cause intense pain , nasty and painful.'_ Erika noted at a duel strike Jasmine gave the air. _'And while he's keeling over gagging for breath, in pain and seconds from death… saw that coming, uppercut to the throat, deep enough to cut all the way through, past the spinal column and the side blades would then ensure instant decapitation. Overall not a very clean kill, the last strike was a bit unnecessary for someone literally a moment away from death unless it was a Warmage, blood and fecal splatter would have likely covered the armor, but in the end a kill is a kill.'_

Upon finishing her last set of strikes Jasmine relaxed and released a deep breath. She smiled at the ponies stamping their hooves in appreciation of the show before placing her new weapons back in the case.

"Thank you very much Captain!" Jasmine said as she took the case from Alexandria. "I can't tell you how long I waited for this!"

"As long as you prove yourself efficient in the field with those, it was no problem," the captain replied with a small smile. "And off-duty it's Alexandria, Jasmine."

"Of course Cap- er… Alexandria!" Jasmine hastily corrected.

Erika smiled at her subordinate's interaction with the Captain before noticing Rarity out of the corner of her eye. The marshmallow white unicorn was fidgeting nervously while wearing a yellow ball gown clasped with a brooch and a large amethyst. She also had flower heads dotting her tail and had a large yellow bonnet with flowers and a baby blue bow. Erika thought she was a _bit_ overdressed before noticing that Rarity was standing next to something covered by a large white cloth. Now a bit curious, Erika walked towards the glamorous unicorn.

"I find it odd how people just ignore me." Jeremy muttered to Alexandria as Erika walked away. "It's like people don't care who I am unless I'm wearing a mask."

Coming to stop in front of Rarity, Erika greeted her.

"Hello Rarity, glad to see you could make it despite your cat being sick." Erika said before leaning in to ask seriously. "How is your cat by the way? Opalescence hasn't contracted anything serious has she?"

"What? Oh! Oh, she's fine darling!" Rarity exclaimed with a crooked false smile. "In fact, if you were to look at her you'd almost think she wasn't sick… eh heh…"

Erika arched an eyebrow at her friend's odd behavior, an act which caused Rarity to noticeably sweat. Now more than a little suspicious of Rarity, Erika wondered whether she should press for details, before deciding to put it out of mind. For now, she focused her attention on what was under the cloth.

"What's under there?" Erika asked Rarity.

"Oh, i-it's your… birthday present…" Rarity answered hesitantly as her nervous sweating picked up.

Now that she found the reason for the unicorn's odd behavior, Erika quickly set to reassure her. "Now, now Rarity, you know what they say, it's the thought that counts. I'm sure I'll like your gift."

"B-but of course! A-after all, I personally designed it…" Biting her lip as she did so, Rarity pulled the cloth away to reveal a simple yellow dress with white trimming and a pink sash tied into a bow just beneath the collar on a pony dummy.

Erika took up a studying look on her features as she approached the dummy. She began circling it, humming in thought. All the while, Rarity was on the verge of biting her hooves, knowing full well that the dress was far from finished.

The violet unicorn stopped at the side of the dummy and stared at the dress, more specifically the color.

"I'm… not too sure about the color, it doesn't really seem me…" Erika began, causing Rarity to grimace widely and widen her eyes in dismay, "But I do like the ancient southern look this dress has… yes I definitely like the style of this dress. Overall, I think you've done a grand job Rarity."

"You… you like it?! Oh thank Celestia! You like it!" Rarity exclaimed, releasing a deep breath in relief.

"Of course I do Rarity, it's a wonderful gift." Erika comforted while raising her eyebrows in surprise of the sure relief rolling off Rarity. "In fact I'm going to try it on right now if you don't mind."

"Oh not at all Darling, it's your birthday after all! You go right ahead and put it on." Rarity urged, and when Erika turned away, quickly made for the doors leading to the gardens.

"Hmmm… actually this looks like it might be a little awkward to put on… Rarity could you help- oh." Erika remarked as she saw Rarity walking away. "Ooookay… uhhh, Fluttershy!"

"Yes Erika?" Fluttershy asked after trotting over.

"Could you help me put on this dress, Fluttershy?" Erika asked. "It looks like it might be a little awkward."

"No problem Erika, now we just have to… oh my…" Fluttershy remarked and brought a hoof to her chest as she encountered their first problem in putting on the dress. "How… how do we take it off the dummy? It looks like she made the dress _around_ the stand…"

"She definitely did," Erika confirmed after taking a closer look at the underbelly of the dummy. "… Maybe some of the seams along the bottom are temporary? Or, or maybe the stand comes off? Let's have a look…" Erika muttered as she narrowed her eyes at both ends of the pole but could not find any bolts or pins. "Maybe it can be pulled out? Hmmm…"

"Ohhhh, be careful Erika!" Fluttershy said, as she watched the Warmage attempt to pull the dummy off the metal pole and brace her lower legs on the wooden stand.

"I think I've got it, I thin-oof!" Accompanied by a loud snap, the metal pole gave way and Erika was sent flying backwards. She skidded along the floor with the dummy held in forelegs before coming to stop just before Jacobs, who was crouching on the floor looking down on her with an amused expression.

"Need some help there major?" He asked.

"Nope, I can handle it." Erika replied as she got back up.

While all this was occurring, Rarity made her across the dining room as stealthily as she could. Upon reaching the doors leading to the gardens, she took a look over her shoulder to see that no one was looking in her direction and quietly opened the door and went out. Of course, just because the Warmages weren't looking her way didn't mean they didn't notice her leaving. In fact, barring Erika, who was busy at the moment, none of the mages missed Rarity's departure.

And so the party continued on, and while Rarity made sure to time her escapes and re-entries into the party with Pinkie's games, none of the mages were fooled for a moment. The only reason she hadn't been confronted yet was because Erika, who had finally got her dress on after a long struggle, was not reacting. So despite their increasing frustration over Rarity's desire to visit the nobles in the garden rather than properly attend Erika's birthday, they kept their cool since that seemed to be Erika's stance on the whole thing.

Currently the group was now enjoying the delicious cake and various alcoholic beverages stored in the coolers. They were also listening to Vivian recount one of many little stories of her 'idiot' little brother.

"… so of course in my own special brand of stupidity I, for some reason, refused to believe that he was dumb enough to get his head stuck in an earthen vase, because he wanted to see what the inside was like." Vivian was nearly shouting in order to be heard over the laughter and giggles that the ponies and mages still could not hold in after the last tale. "So what does my genius of a brother do? Why, the big moron goes and gets the vase, and proceeds to show me just how he got stuck in there… BY DEMONSTRATION!"

"So little eight year old me spends about four minutes calling him a stupid head before trying to pull him out of the thing," Vivian continued as the ponies laughed aloud, the mages chuckled and smiled, reminded of their own childhoods. "And of course he manages to mess that up too, the idiot was a six year old giant in the making, and I was just teeny little girl. So when I got a grip on the vase and tried to pull it off, he pulls back against me and I end up losing my grip. So he goes backpedaling off and crashes head first into the wall. He broke the vase but still wasn't free since he had the lip of it stuck around his neck. Woo boy were we in trouble when Mom came down to see what the ruckus was about."

As the ponies and mages laughed, Rarity made her entrance back into the dining room as quietly as she could. She was quickly noticed by the mages and they couldn't help but feel their cheer die down when they did. They had been going out of their way to not react and ruin Erika's birthday, but they had their limits, and the unicorn that thought visiting with some nobles was better than her own best friend's birthday was pushing them. They were at a loss at Erika's behaviour concerning this though, the Atlantean unicorn used to be the most gung-ho of them when it came to hurting nobles in any way. Now she seemed to be doing a grand job of simply ignoring the fact her friend was two timing her for the very people she hated.

However, it seemed they had thought too soon, because Erika released a deeply agitated sigh. The ponies in the group, who had grown silent when the mages became stone faced, turned towards her and saw her expression had changed. Instead of cheer, her eyes became dark with incredulous fury and she seemed to be fighting to keep from snarling. Immediately the violet unicorn blurred from her seat by the dining table to a few feet in front of Rarity. The sudden movement and appearance of the Warmage startled the glamorous unicorn and made her rear up and drop the croquet mallet she held in her mouth.

"Uhhh, why, Erika darling! W-what seems to be the matter? You look upset!?" Rarity asked with a nervous smile.

Erika narrowed her eyes as she shook her head incredulously at Rarity. "Seriously? After what you have been doing _all_ evening, you have the _nerve_ to ask me why I am upset?"

"Why, whatever do you mean?!" Rarity asked as she tried and failed to keep up a smile in front of the increasingly furious Warmage.

"Now calm down there sugercube," Applejack said soothingly as she trotted over to Erika's side. "Now, ah'm sure whatever Rarity been doing, she didn't mean no harm, right Rarity?"

"Yeah Erika, calm down and lay off a bit." Dash said, leaping to Rarity's defense as she flew over the three. "What was she doing that was so bad anyway?"

"Really? You guys didn't notice her coming and going at all?" Behind her, Erika's fellow mages shared her disbelief. They were expertly trained magical soldiers, capable of spotting a sniper dozens of blocks away, but that level of training was not required to notice Rarity's "stealth".

"Notice what Erika?" Applejack blinked. "I thought she was here the entire time. Well… where were ya going off to Rarity?"

"The gardens, where else is there a croquet game?" Erika answered as she levitated the mallet up to her face, before magically snapping it with an angry scowl. "I can't believe you Rarity… I thought you of all people, one who is practically the symbol of generosity, wouldn't be enticed by the nobility's greed. But then I suppose that is really who you are, isn't it? You'd prefer generosity towards yourself rather than towards others, at least that's what this bout of betrayal tells me."

Gaping in disbelief, and very mush hurt by Erika's words, Rarity stared in dismay at the Warmage before speaking out. "Erika, please calm down! _Now _I am honestly unaware of what has managed to insult you so."

"Well then think for a moment, what am I? What have I lost to nobles, hmmm?" Erika drawled spitefully.

And in that moment, Rarity remembered. Erika was Atlantean and all Atlanteans had one thing in common, their hatred of nobility. More than that, what Erika had lost to nobles was her one love. The glamorous unicorn froze in incredulity for a moment at the fact she forgot something so important about her friend.

"…I-I'm sorry Erika! I truly am!" Rarity sputtered slightly as she apologized. "It just… I was wearing one of my designs and I was dismissed the very moment they knew I was from the "country". It went from one little lie about the Wonderbolts to me being THE mare to know in all of Canterlot. You know me Erika… I like nice things… and having my opinion about art held so highly, being chosen to christen a ship, and everypony wanting what I bid for in an auction… I felt like I was on top of the world!"

"And then the date of my birthday came around, and reality brought you crashing back down to _our _level, we dirty commoners with no taste in the finery of life," Erika retorted with an insulted look. "Suddenly you found yourself choosing between attending a friend's birthday party and spending your time with some nobles. I bet your cat isn't even sick. Like you said, she doesn't look sick at all… because she never was in the first place."

"Erika-"

"No! No more excuses!" Erika interrupted with a shout and brought her hoof down on the floor hard enough for cracks to appear and spread a fair distance.

'_Crud, this don't look too good!'_ Applejack thought as she openly grimaced and took a step back from the sudden violent action. The cowpony was currently having trouble trying to figure out whose side to take, or if she should just try to keep things from blowing up further. Personally, she didn't like nobles all that much, they were too snooty and far too squeamish about the littlest things, like bugs and getting your hooves dirty. It obviously wasn't at Erika's level of hatred though, more like wanting to ignore them when she could and just go on with life.

Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash and saw that the pegasus had flown over to just behind Erika and was now scowling at Rarity.

'_Course she would.'_ The cowpony thought a bit unhappily. _'Being the Element of Loyalty an' all.'_

Applejack turned back to where Fluttershy and Pinkie still were, and saw that she probably wasn't going to get help from either any time soon, or from the mages for that matter. Fluttershy was staring at the argument with wide, slightly tearing eyes, like she thought she was witnessing the end of a close friendship, and had her hooves over her mouth in worry. Pinkie had apparently regressed back into Pinkamena at the very sight of the party she had worked so hard to make fun for everyone turning out this way, very likely still emotionally frail after everything that happened.

As for the mages, they were merely staring on stone faced, except for a few that were smirking. They probably thought Rarity deserved what was coming to her for trying to two time Erika with nobles, although out of all of them, the only one not watching the argument was Emily, who was facing away and sipping on a bottle of vodka.

Turning back to look at a furious Erika and a distressed Rarity, Applejack came to a decision.

'_Ain't no pony's friendship getting destroyed while Ah'm around!'_ The cowpony thought decisively and opened her mouth to shout when the doors leading to the gardens slammed open.

While Rarity was in the dining room, some of the nobles in the garden began to notice and wonder at her absence, namely, a stallion named Fancy Pants. He had actually started leisurely strolling around the gardens and looking for Rarity when he happened to pass by the dining room. Inside was the very unicorn he was looking for, and she appeared to be in some amount of trouble, considering she was front of a group of noble hating Altanteans , he proceeded to get a small group together to retrieve her.

When he told his fellow nobles of the plight Rarity found herself in, he found himself unable to get another word out as several more prominent and bombastic acquaintances began calling for a gallant rescue of the popular unicorn. Fancy Pants had merely intended to get a small group together, simply walk in, apologise for Rarity, and leave without incident, now he was trying and failing to convince a horde of gung-ho nobles from bursting into the dining room when they did just that.

"Ho there!" Shouted the noble at the lead, his head held high and his chest puffed out. "Unhoof that fair maiden you fiends!"

In response to the door suddenly bursting open, the mages leapt to Erika's side, wielding deadly technicolor magics and blades sharp enough to cut diamonds like air. Captain Alexandria merely strode forward until she stood by the unicorn Warmage's side, though oddly, Jeremy seemed to have suddenly disappeared from sight.

"Epp!" The lead noble squeaked and quickly hid behind one of the mares that followed him as his fellows suddenly looked none too sure about their "Gallant Rescue".

"Now if you just hold one moment please!" shouted a rather indignant Fancy Pants as he made his way through the group of nobles crowding the door. "Good, now I'm sure we can simply converse like civilised beings, instead of barging in on others like a bunch of Diamond Dogs now can't we?" Now at the front of the group Fancy Pants, looked at the Atlanteans with an arched eyebrow and asked. "Can't we?"

"H-heh, now that s-sounds very reasonable… excuse me please…" Jeremy said from behind the nobles and proceeded to make his way through the group, absently twirling a butter knife between his fingers all the while.

In response to both Fancy Pants and Jeremy's words, the mages began to lower their weapons and cancel out their magic.

Seeing this, Fancy Pants began to speak. "Now, I apologise for miss Rarity's intrusion here. However, I'm sure she didn't mean any harm an-"

"Rarity was invited," Erika interrupted calmly. She seemed oddly calm considering who had just burst into her party.

"Oh…" Fancy remarked as his monocle fell off. "… Well then I apologise instead, I merely chanced to look through a window and saw her in some sort of trouble…"

"Don't be, she was in a sort of trouble, since she thought she could try to attend both my birthday and your garden party." Erika was feeling more and more confused. She hated nobles, hated them with a murderous rage that she was very willing to give into whenever the opportunity presented itself. So, just like her last encounter with them, why wasn't the feeling present?

'_Maybe because they aren't the nobles of the long dead Vor'Shan Empire?'_ A sudden thought accrued to the Warmage. _'So what if they aren't! They are still greedy, thieving… slaving… nobles… right?'_

More memories came, as if in response to this thought. They were much like the last bunch, memories of the Equestrian nobility as they lived and worked in the palace. It had been centuries, if not millennia, since nobles had true demesnes to rule, and as such they had not collected taxes in that long as well, it all went to Celestia. The nobles of Equestria attained and kept their wealth though simple business and trade, often working as a force of innovation in order to stay on top and in the game as a side effect of this. If anything, they were more like posh corporate CEOs than anything else… just like Atlantis…

Rarity stared at Erika as the Warmage's expression began to furiously twitch. The Atlantean unicorn's head suddenly twitched over to the side and released a solitary violet spark from her horn. Erika then very calmly looked over to Rarity and stared at her a moment, making the unicorn in question ever more nervous.

"Rarity…" Erika began.

"Y-yes Erika?"

"I'm angry at you, really, so very angry…" the Warmage groused to her. "But… I guess I can't really be that angry at you since I'm so calm right now."

"Do you mean…" Rarity asked with hope.

"Yes… I… forgive you Rarity." Erika said with a sigh delighting the unicorn to no end before suddenly snapping out. "But don't do it again!"

"Of course darling!" Rarity replied with unflappable cheer before bounding forward and giving Erika a hug, who returned it with another sigh. The two were promptly almost flattened by Pinkie, who had gotten her curls and mane volume back.

"Yay, everypony is still friends!" She shouted as she gave a near bone crushing hug to the two.

"Yes Pinkie, we're fine now." Erika smiled at the party mare. "Though I think you should let up on the hug; I don't think Rarity can't breathe."

"OH, oops!" Pinkie shouted as she let the now purple faced Rarity go.

"Th-thank you darling…" Rarity wheezed from the floor.

"Ahem." Fancy Pants cleared his throat, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "Well I'd rather not interrupt the moment, but there is something of importance I'd like to discuss with you Miss Gefallen. I had wanted to talk to you earlier about it, but…"

"I… apologise… I was not in the talking mood." Erika said, sounding more like she'd rather be getting a tooth pulled than apologising.

"All is forgiven, I am rather aware of your people's history with nobility, and cannot find it in myself to begrudge you." Fancy Pants said with an understanding nod.

"Oh… I suppose Celestia notified you about that?"

"That she did. Now, about what I wanted to talk to you about… hmmm, actually, I suppose it would be better to show you." Fancy Pants said before he and his fellow nobles began walking out the door, he called back out before exiting. "If you wish, you may bring along your friends!"

Erika wondered what Fancy Pants wanted to show her and was about to follow him out when two of her mages walked over.

"He's probably trying to lead us into an ambush, dumb ass noble." Keitaro muttered to her.

"Nah that'd be too obvious, but I sure hope he is, make him eat that stupid looking monocle of his." Vivian said eagerly as she cracked her knuckles.

"Anyone else as curious as I am?" Erika asked and got nods from everyone, including two reluctant ones from Keitaro and Vivian. "Well then, let's go see what he wants to show us."

Erika led the way out into the garden where the nobles where waiting. The garden that the nobles were having their "garden party" wasn't really much of a garden. All it was was a wide open lawn with a wall of rose bushes and trees, accompanied by several tables set up with pastries and an assortment of expensive treats. In the center of the lawn was a large classically carved stone pillar with a large white cloth covering whatever stood atop it.

Following Erika, the mages and ponies came to a stop before pillar and looked to Fancy Pants who merely smiled at them. He proceeded to magically pull away the cloth, revealing what was hidden underneath. It was a marble statue of a Warmage, specifically a fully deployed Battle Mage with a cape, standing heroically atop a rock and equally heroically holding his sword skyward, as if to challenge the heavens themselves.

"After Celestia told me about some of Atlantis' history, I met with many of my contemporaries and had this commissioned!" Fancy Pants announced at the looks of surprise and some shock. "This statue is but a smaller example that will be placed in the palace gardens. A much larger version will be placed in the city plaza before the royal palace. As both a sign of thanks to our saviours, and that the nobles of Equestria truly aspire to their namesakes!"

Keitaro and Vivian scoffed, but the rest of the mages looked contemplative at Fancy Pants' announcement. A memory of the time Ezekiel told his empire why he began actively seeking diplomacy with outsider nobility came to mind. Ezekiel apparently had a revelation after meeting a young princess who was the very epitome of what a noble should try to be: above pettiness, utter selflessness, but in the end still human.

With Ezekiel's tale in mind, Alexandria strode forward. "On behalf of my fellow Warmages, I thank you, and… I do believe a thousand years is far too long for one to hold a grudge."

With that she walked over to one noble and began to have a conversation with her. Perhaps a little hesitantly at first, the rest of the mages and ponies stepped forward to do the same. Erika decided that she would hazard attempting a conversation with Fancy Pants.

"Miss Gefallen." The blue maned noble greeted with a warm smile.

"uhhh… Lord… Pants ?" Erika unsurely greeted back.

Jeremy, at a table a few steps away sampling the punch, choked when he heard Erika say that.

"Please, you may call me Fancy if you wish!" the noble said with a deeply amused smile.

"Right, of course…" The Warmage replied face flushed with a little embarrassment.

"Now tell me about what you are wearing." Fancy said as he stared at Erika's dress. "A very interesting style, gives me pleasant thoughts of the country really."

"You like it?" Erika said as she stood sideways to give him a better look at the dress. "I find it a simple yet pleasing southern styled dress."

"Southern styled you say?" Fancy asked. "Please tell me more about what you mean."

Though Vivian and Keitaro chose to sit this out and drink on a nearby bench rather than socialise with nobility, everyone else found talking with them to actually be rather plesant, much amusement came from how overly dramatic and animated the nobles could be at times.

It was at this time that Su Li and Celestia, followed by the rest of Erika's squad appeared in the still open door to the dining room.

"Hmmm… it appears we missed something important," Su Li remarked to Celestia.

"Indeed it does, although I'm quite happy with this turn of events." The sun goddess replied, nodding towards Erika speaking with Fancy Pants.

The two parties merged into one fairly quickly after, it was unavoidable once the nobles realised that not only was their own Princess attending, but a foreign head of state was present as well. All the stops were pulled out with that realisation, and the night shift of the castle staff suddenly found their normally quiet jobs very busy. Much more exotic deserts were brought in from the pantry, and once Pinkie decided that the garden party could use a bit more livening up, there was no stopping her. Overall, it became a very memorable experience that none of the party goers would forget anytime soon.

Because of the late hour, Erika, her former squad, and her friends were all given rooms for the night. Erika retired to the bedroom she had occupied as Celestia's student to think about the day's events.

It had been a rather long time since the Warmage had truly celebrated her birthday. Normally all she would do was take her squad out for drinks and call it a day, or if they out in the field on a mission or deployed on patrol she'd treat it as just another day. She'd gotten into the habit of only celebrating every tenth birthday, like her older siblings. So the enthusiasm she found herself for a birthday that was obviously not on a tenth felt rather strange.

She had felt really excited about it, and it reminded her of when she was younger and the years seemed to take decades to pass. But what really occupied her thoughts were the Equestrian nobility. She knew she still hated nobility as a whole, the same feelings of hate and disgust still bubbled up when she thought of the Vor'Shan nobility, but were surprisingly absent when she thought of pony nobles. The hate and disgust would come up for a moment before immediately dying down, replaced instead by mere annoyance and slight apathy. The Warmage wondered at this sudden change, it was quite obviously an aftereffect of absorbing her old life's memories, and in light of this, she had to ask herself a question.

'_Do I want this?'_ Erika thought. '_Do I really want to change? Is my life as Twilight Sparkle really all that important? It has proven to get in the way of my job at times, but… it also helped me to reattach with those I now find very dear to me. Is it true mother? Would my hatred have driven off my friends? Loyal Dash, stubborn Applejack, selfless Rarity, determined Pinkie, and Fluttershy so shy but willing to help? Would they have really eventually given up?'_

Erika sighed and rolled onto her side, somehow the idea of those five giving up on anything once they set their mind to it seemed very unlikely. But they were still people, weren't they? And all people had their limits. Shaking her thoughts, Erika noticed that she happened to be staring at the desk she used to work at. On it was some books, a pile of parchment, and a fresh inkwell and quill.

Yet another memory drifted across Erika's mind, she was sitting at a desk writing a letter to Celestia, telling her about what important lesson she learned about people and life that day before sending it off via Spike.

Feeling a strange itch in her hoof, Erika rolled onto her other side and went to sleep, promptly dreaming about her first day as a student under the Princess.

**-TBC-**

AN: Alright this took a LONG while but it got in eventually. A bit of a heads up though, I'm currently focusing on writing a chapter for my other story but I'll get to work on the next chapter for this after it is done.


	21. Elsewhere Episode V: Ponies in Training

"Auuuuuugh…" Celestia groaned out as she lay spread eagle on the ground, her chest heaving with exertion.

It was about noon of the day after Erika's birthday. Keeping true to her word, Su Li had met with Celestia and convinced her to have her sister take over some of her responsibilities, freeing up the time to seriously train. She and Su Li had then set out and started off for the grasslands beneath Canterlot. Su Li wore appropriate exercise clothes and Celestia put on a white and blue sweat band while pulling her mane into a pony tail.

"Come on Celly, you can't stop now!" Su Li urged cheerfully as she ran in place. The Atlantean Empress wore a pair of black shorts with dark blue stripes that barely reached the middle of her thigh, a dark blue tank top and a pair of black and blue runners. "The trainers are going to check out your new Royal Guard recruits in the fields just near here! You wouldn't want to miss out on that would you?"

"If the reason, haaa, for our outing, haaa, was to see my new guards being, haaa, appraised…" the worn out alicorn began before to catch her breath."… Then why did we have to get up before I raise the sun, spend all morning jogging across the Unicorn Range in a serpentine pattern, and then tire myself further by raising the sun while jogging when we could have just exercised in my courtyards and took a chariot at the appropriate time?"

"Hmmmmm, that sounds completely and utterly reasonable," Su Li replied with a nod as she continued to run in place, "which is exactly why we didn't do it. Look, you can train all you want at reasonable times and hours with well thought out schedules when I'm not here. Until then, I'm going to drop kick you out of bed and beat you into shape in the few sessions we'll have before I leave."

Celestia glared from her spot on the ground.

"What's with the look?" Su Li asked as she crossed her arms imperiously, still running in place. "Hey you said you wanted to be able to fight again. Do you remember how hard it was to get into that form before? It certainly wasn't easy for me, a pasty bookworm, to get into fighting shape, but I did it without complaining, and I was barely a fraction of your age at the time."

"… You're right Su Li." Celestia admitted with a sigh. "Just give me a moment longer, I'm trying to get into shape, not stay in shape… and please stop running, just watching you is enough to make me feel more tired than I am."

"Okay… fine," Su Li agreed with a huff. "But only two minutes… and it's not like you can't use the exercise I mean look at the size of that thing…"

"What was that?!" Celestia asked sharply, just managing to catch Su Li's muttering.

"Nothing~" Su Li replied in a sing song voice.

The two heads of state were soon on their way again, jogging through the farmlands and rolling hills of the Unicorn Range. This time, much to the Sun Princess' relief, they went on a much more direct route to where the new Guards were going to be appraised, more out of Su Li's desire to make it on time than to go easy on Celestia. Eventually one tired Princess and a still energetic Empress came cresting over a hill to the sight of the Royal Guard recruits in formation of ten even blocks. In front of the formations were a few of the Atlantean trainers, along with Shining Armor in his purple regalia.

Celestia and Su Li jogged over until they were close enough to overhear their conversation.

"… all over the place huh?" A trainer asked, he was red headed, had bright green eyes, and wore the usual black cuirass and gray jumpsuit. "So how many are there?"

"A little over ten thousand ponies have answered the call for recruitment," Armor said with no little amount of pride. "This is the largest force Equestria has had since the days of the standing army, and even then this force outnumbers them by a good two thousand!"

"You don't say, very impressive…" The trainer said, managing to hide the disappointment over the number. It was a woefully small army for a kingdom of Equestria's size and density, and the trainers had come expecting far larger numbers. "Truth be told, we were expecting a force a [i]bit[/i] larger than this-"

"By a factor of at least ten… " A trainer muttered under her breath.

"But this just means the recruits will receive a much more rich and concentrated regimen," he stated and got a pleased nod from Shining Armor.

"Very good, well shall w- Oh! Princess!" Armor said upon finally noticing Celestia and Su Li standing behind them.

"Empress Su Li," the head trainer greeted with a respectful nod. "How may we help you two?"

"Oh nothing really, I'm just helping Celestia get into shape," Su Li replied, pointing at the panting alicorn. "I wanted see how everyone was getting along and thought I'd just make it a training trip for her, hope you don't mind us watching you work for a bit."

"Of course, it's not a problem at all!" Armor immediately answered.

"What he said," the trainer replied with a lopsided smile as he pointed a thumb towards Armor. "Can you manage training her though?"

"Of course, I still remember how Ezekiel trained me," Su Li answered. "But I'm only going to be here for a few more days, so she is going to go see you afterwards for the continuation of her training."

"No problem, we are only handling their discipline and tactical education," the trainer replied, gesturing towards the pony recruits behind him. "Getting them into fighting shape is the job of the Chi Masters."

"Great!" Su Li said.

"Thank you good sir…?" the Princess thanked before asking for a name.

"You're welcome Princess, and I am Major Roderick," Roderick answered before turning towards Shining Armor. "Shall we introduce ourselves to the recruits?" he said motioning to the other trainers.

"Yes, let's begin," Armor answered with a nod.

Shining Armor and Roderick stepped forward towards the semi-orderly ranks of fresh pony recruits, followed closely by the other trainers. The trainers took positions in a line a short distance behind Armor and Roderick, standing at attention with hands clasped behind them.

Being the fresh recruits that they were, the formations and neat lines they had been formed into no longer existed. They were slowly being replaced with crudely shaped boxes as ponies shifted in place, taking a few steps that moved them out of line and distorted their once neat formations further.

"**AT ATTENTION**!" Armor barked out, startling many of the recruits. "I am Shining Armor, Captain of Her Highness' Royal Guard! You all have seen it fit to answer the call of recruitment and may one day be Royal Guards, protecting the Royal Sisters and our Kingdom of Equestria… if you have the strength to withstand the training! I will not lie to you, it will not be easy, even more so now our skills were found to be inadequate! I do not need to tell you why this is so!"

Most of the ponies Armor could view nodded grimly; they knew why it was going to be harder and accepted it. It was why they had signed up.

"Those who will train you will neither be me nor my fellow Guard!" Armor continued, causing some confusion among the recruits. "We will be training alongside you. The ones to train us are members of the Atlantean Warmages; allow me to introduce Major Roderick!"

Roderick strode forward at his introduction to the widespread whispering of the pony recruits. He waited a few moments for the whispering to die out.

"As Captain Armor said, I am Major Roderick, a trainer from the Atlantean Empire, here to whip you sorry lot into shape on behest of the Princess Luna!" Roderick shouted loudly. "I am also a veteran of two hundred years of war, and I can say with total confidence that I have killed more people than there are ponies in Canterlot! The same can be said of my fellow trainers behind me! "

Shocked whispers broke out in the ranks as recruits gave horror filled stares at the Warmage. Shining Armor gave a sharp look to Roderick when he heard this declaration, but quickly regained his stern expression.

'_This is… this is who we need to teach us fight this new threat_.' Armor thought as he pushed down his shock. '_This is the only way we can learn to defend ourselves… the only way I can learn to protect Cadence…'_

"Yes, I fully admit to being a killer," Roderick stated to the shocked masses before him. "I can feel the disgust and smell the fear rolling off all of you, and you know what? I don't care. I have long since sacrificed my innocence for my people's sake! I made this sacrifice so that they don't have to, so their children can grow up learning the sciences and philosophy, instead of learning how to fight! If it means I can save a single child, I'll gladly suffer a thousand agonizing deaths!"

"The training of Warmages is not an easy thing… but you will not be undertaking this training." Roderick continued to the now silent ponies, "Instead you will be put under a far less intense regimen of discipline and tactical training. Your physical training will be handled by a group of specially selected and trained martial artists. They will teach you the style of fighting you will use in close quarters as well as use abilities you all will likely mistake for magic."

"Know this…" Roderick said he called up a pile of dirt with his crimson magic into a shape of a person. "When I and my peers are finished training you, I will be able to state to Captain Armor with a hundred percent certainty that if he orders _any_ one of you to kill an enemy…" The trainer turned his attention to the new fully human looking dirt golem, who stared at him fearfully when he took out his AMP pistol and aimed it at its head. "You will do so with zero hesitation."

With that the trainer fired his pistol, the bolt of energy ripped through the golem's head and displayed a gory aftermath for a brief moment before turning into dirt.

"Knowing this, do you still wish to undergo this training?" Roderick asked calmly, his face softening into a kind expression. "You will not be judged for leaving, the life of a soldier, of violence, is not for everyone."

For a single long minute, Roderick waited, calmly gazing over the pony recruits. The expression and thoughts were many and varied, some were even more determined to go through with the training to protect their home, some were scared of what they would become at the end, but were still determined to go through with it, and others still were terrified of what was to come, but in the end not one single pony left.

"Very well, know the choice to leave will remain open through the training," Roderick stated, but in his admittedly impressed musing he now thought it would go unused.

"Will you fight for the Princess?!" Roderick barked out and when he got only murmured answers and a few shouts he repeated. "I SAID! **WILL YOU FIGHT FOR THE PRINCESS?!"**

This time their answer was a loud resounding "YES!"

"WILL YOU PROTECT EQUESTRIA'S WAY OF LIFE?!"

"**YES!"**

"WILL YOU **KILL** FOR YOUR PEOPLE?!"

"… YES!" This time their answer was not as quick, but that was to be expected.

"Very good!" Roderick said, nodding approvingly. "Armor, get in line! You and your own will learn to be a grunt before we'll teach you to be officers! Sarah, go get the other Royal Guards and bring them in line!"

"Well let's get out of their way," Su Li said pleasantly as she motioned for Celestia to follow her.

Su Li and Celestia continued on their way back through the fields and farmlands they traveled through, occasionally seeing a farmer working their fields but otherwise were alone.

'_Incredible how she can just walk about without a bodyguard detail._' Su Li mused on Celestia. _'I only get away with this because I'm as hard to kill as all the others in the Corps. She's as fragile as any mortal yet the Royal Guard did not mind her going off by herself. Either assassination is an unheard of concept here or… this world truly is a place of peace and harmony_.' Su Li thought her expression turning into a mournful smile. _'I wonder what it's like? To take a neighbor's offer of peace and trade at face value, to not hold suspicion, and never be betrayed? It must be nice… it reminds me of how we were before first contact… we were so ready to put our history of violence and conquest behind us, to forge a new history for ourselves in the stars… and it all turned out to be political squabbling on a far grander scale, with far more horrible consequences…'_

"Su Li?" Celestia said, breaking the younger immortal out of her musing.

"Yes?" Su Li asked as she came to a stop to let Celestia rest a little.

"Thank you…" Celestia said as she panted lightly. "Is this really necessary?"

The Atlantean Empress arched an eyebrow. "This is what you wanted Celestia, I know the training can be a pain but-"

"No, I meant back there." Celestia explained. "Is it truly worth having my ponies turned into… killers?"

"… Let me show you something." Su Li said as she stood over by Celestia's side and placed an arm around the alicorn's neck. "Look at this and tell me…"

Suddenly the view of mount Canterlot and the city itself was gone, replaced with what it looked like over a month ago. Canterlot, capital city of Equestria was in ruins, the mountainside was pockmarked with craters, the surrounding landscape was impossible to make out through the carpet of wreckage, and tall columns of smoke rose from funeral pyres.

"… Is it not worth it to look at this and say 'Never Again'?" Su Li asked almost rhetorically.

Celestia was quiet for a long moment, taking in the illusion of Equestria's darkest hour from a different angle.

"… Su Li?" Celestia finally said.

"Yes?"

"In comparison to your Warmages, how strong are you?" The alicorn asked.

"I'm a Warmage too and I'm among the strongest." Su Li replied.

"I wish to fight you Su Li." Celestia stated, staring intensely at the Atlantean Empress. "I wish to know just how well I stack against Atlantean might."

Su Li took a look around and saw the field they were in was fairly large and barren save for a thick carpet of tall grass, it was adequate.

"Very well." Su Li replied, leaping away several metres. "Considering you have only begun your physical reconditioning, this will be a magic only fight."

"Here?" Celestia said with wide eyes.

"Yes, why not?" Su Li said as she limbered up. "It's barren enough, and I don't think people will mind that we messed up some field."

"…Alright." The Sun Princess replied as she narrowed her eyes. Celestia's stance changed, lowering her head close to the ground with horn aglow with magic, and spreading her hooves apart for a firmer footing.

"Don't hold back Celestia." Su Li warned. "I'm not the one still in training here."

"I won't." Celestia answered seriously.

"Okay… begin." Su Li said and immediately stepped to the side as a beam of intense white energy speared through the air. The Gefallen matriarch then crouched to avoid another beam, this time moving parallel to the ground and would have gotten her in the chest had she not dodged. A third beam quickly followed the second, but this time Celestia aimed for the ground at Su Li's feet, and detonated upon contact with the ground. Celestia's target had darted out of the way by then, moving across the ground as if she were ice skating.

Su Li studied Celestia as she moved away. The alicorn was doing fairly well for someone that hadn't been in fighting condition for over a millennium, it also appeared that she was a quick study. The moment the impromptu practice duel began Celestia put up a brightly glowing barrier—an all-around defense against surprise attacks. However, Su Li could see a problem with Celestia's defence; it seemed to leave her immobile, and mobility often decided battles. It also seemed that the Princess had just become distracted.

Glancing to the side, Su Li saw that one of Celestia's attacks set aflame the tall grass and the fire was quickly growing. A dark blue orb appeared in Su Li's hand before she quickly chucked it at the fire with an underhand swing. Mid-flight the orb bulged out and became a wave of water that doused the flames.

"Don't worry about collateral!" The Gefallen matriarch shouted. "Just focus on fighting me!"

Celestia gave a sharp nod and blasted another beam of pure white energy at Su Li who simply leapt over it and tossed another orb that curved through the air as it flew. Su Li frowned thoughtfully as the orb exploded against Celestia's shield. She was showing no signs of strain against the attack and continued to unleash intense beams of energy at the Gefallen matriarch.

As Su Li jumped aside a beam and quickly maneuvered herself out of the path of another, she had an idea. Water appeared over her right arm in droplets, quickly accumulating into an icy shied that curved inwards, polished to a perfect mirror.

Su Li waited for another beam, a wait that didn't take long. Instead of dodging, Su Li brought up her shield into its path. She was pushed back several metres, her feet tearing small ditches into the ground from the effort of blocking Celestia's attack, however the Gefallen matriarch was smiling the entire time. While the beam was pushing her back, it was also being reflected into the ground, searing a long black line as it went, exactly as expected. Form glowing dark blue as she magically anchored herself, the Empress quickly adjusted her shield so that instead of going into the ground, the beam was reflected back at Celestia.

The alicorn's eyes widened and she quickly ended her spell, a little too late though. The beam impacted her shield in a flare of light and the sound of metal grinding on metal, but ended before it could penetrate the shield. Celestia's eyes narrowed in thought as she glanced at her spherical shield and nodded her head after a moment.

Su Li smiled when Celestia dropped her shield and simply started dodging incoming attacks. Mobility was key, and the Atlantean Empress was glad to see the Celestia pick it up quickly. Moreover, Celestia had apparently decided the beams she was letting off were of no use against a quick and nimble target, and started firing crescent shaped bolts of magic instead.

Su Li kicked up her speed a notch or two in order to dodge to a quick burst of three magic crescents sent her way, inwardly praising Celestia for managing to make her do that. She decided to repay Celestia in kind and started sending more than a simple overcharged grenade burst.

Celestia yelped when instead of a simple exploding orb, the gathering energy in Su Li's hand quickly turned into a number of small blue spheres that tore up the ground and hit with enough force to definitely cause bruising later.

Su Li smirked; maybe Celestia would display more of that quick learning and consider her enemy possible of anything? It was a good mindset to have on the battlefield. If not, at the very least Celestia was now aware of Su Li's underpowered scatter spell.

It seemed Celestia decided she did not have to be on the ground for this fight and quickly rose into the air with her powerful wings.

'_Yes, that's right… take the high ground!_' Su Li applauded mentally. _'I think I'll stay down here a bit and see what you do with it.'_

The Atlantean Empress was rather disappointed for a moment when Celestia just blasted more crescents at her, but smiled when she began rapidly maneuvering in the air and started aiming her shots to box in Su Li. Deciding to see what Celestia would do if she did manage to pin her, Su Li allowed her to do just that.

Su Li raised her eyebrows in surprise when several transparent walls appeared around her, literally boxing her in. Wondering if this was all Celestia was planning, Su Li quickly received her answer when the ceiling began to quickly descend.

The Gefallen matriarch burst through the wall in a shower of white magical shards, her arms covered by long blades that seemed to be made of perfectly polished mirrors. Su Li looked up at the airborne Celestia with a smile and released her blades back into water that quickly disappeared into her skin. Celestia replied to this wordless challenge by charging another spell, one seeming to be far more powerful than the others as the Alicorn's horn shone like a flare.

Su Li stood still, prepared to take whatever was thrown at her. Finally, Celestia seemed to be finished charging her spell and let it loose. Countless yellow "bullets" the size of basketballs flew from Celestia's horn to orbit around her for a moment before flying towards Su Li in an arching flight. Su Li nodded in satisfaction of the sight and was about to simply fly through the barrage when an idea occurred to her.

'_This will be wastefully showy and ultimately unnecessary…'_ The Empress frowned as her runners were covered in water that froze into mirrors before her frown was replaced by a bright smile_. 'But it'll be fun!'_

Just as one of the bullets Celestia launched at her was about to hit, Su Li leapt over it and towards another that was following close behind. She reached out with one of her ice covered feet and landed for the briefest moment atop the bullet before leaping for the one after it.

Celestia's eye widened in shock as she saw Su Li hop from one spell to the next, calling up her mirror blades for a brief moment to bat away shots that were too close. Quickly ending her spell Celestia pumped her wings as hard as she could to put some distance between her and the quickly closing Gefallen matriarch, too late.

Leaping off one of the last bullets Celestia launched, Su Li sent herself flipping over the airborne alicorn. As she was upside down over Celestia, Su Li aimed her palm at the middle of the Princess' back and fired a point blank shot.

With a pained shout, Celestia was blown from the air and sent speeding towards the ground, but before she hit, Su Li took action. Immediately changing directions, Su Li flew past Celestia and landed on the ground. She aimed a palm towards the falling form of Celestia, and a large quantity of water appeared an orb several metres in diameter.

Celestia hit the magical water with nary a splash, her fall reduced to a crawl as she sunk through the sphere. Falling through the bottom of the sphere, Celestia hit the ground with a thud, coughing up some water.

Su Li smiled and was about speak when she noticed the approaching forms of Roderick and Shining Armor.

"I told you," Roderick said to Armor when he saw the state of Celestia. "How was she, ma'am?"

"Princess!" Armor exclaimed as he ignored Roderick and rushed to the Alicorn's side.

"I'm fine Captain," Celestia said reassuringly as she got up. "Just a bit of combat training, I'm bound to get more than a little wet and bruised in the future, so you may as well get used to it."

"Yes, Princess…"

"She's powerful," Su Li complimented. "But she needs to improve her spellwork, and her reaction time needs improvement. I could tell just by looking at you that you were having trouble keeping track of me." Su Li finished towards Celestia.

"You were beginning to blur." Celestia replied with a nod. "I was barely able to keep track as long as you didn't change direction. This was definitely an experience… what you did to reach me in the air was most impressive, I didn't think you could walk on magic."

"Yeah, that was fun to watch wasn't it?" Su Li said, rubbing the back of her head in an oddly sheepish manner. "…Please don't tell Ezekiel I did that though, he really does not like it when I get showy. Says it teaches I'm training bad habits. And I would rather not go on a… dry spell…"

"Well… I'll make sure not to mention it then," Celestia reassured, though she did not know what Su Li meant.

"Well…" Roderick began, covering his smile with a convincing cough. "Since the Princess is fine, like I told you, shall we return to the training, Captain Armor?"

"Yes, of course," Armor answered, but before leaving he turned towards Celestia. "I shall bring you daily reports on the army's progress Princess."

"Thank you, Shining Armor," Celestia replied. "I shall look forward to reading them."

"Shall we jog back to Canterlot?" Su Li asked as Armor and Roderick walked away. "Or do you need to rest a bit more?"

"No I'm fairly certain I can go for a while longer yet," Celestia answered and began trotting forward.

"Hope you keep up that attitude when you start getting _really_ hurt later in training." Su Li said as she jogged after her.

"We can only wait and see, can't we?"

**Λ**

Twenty Shadow Mages divided into two squads were scattered about the forested roots of the mountain before them. The Everfree operation was finished and the scouting mission to make way for the AIB operatives was completed just the day before. Now operatives were in place to infiltrate the infamous pony prison of Tartarus.

"Squads Alpha and Beta in position," a shadow mage spoke into his coms.

"Copy that Alpha Leader," the operator on the other end replied. "Operation Kastor is a go."

Most didn't know it, but the name was chosen for the irony. Kastor was the son of a fictional Atlantean admiral in an ancient computer game; he grew up to be the leader of the Atlantean remnants, and was manipulated into unleashing nigh unstoppable monstrosities from the darkest depths of Tartarus. Now real Atlanteans where going into the legendary prison.

The Shadow Mage designated as Alpha Leader nodded his head in affirmation before sending out a signal that would make a little green circle appear in the corners of the other mages' HUDs, the sign to start the mission.

The two teams made their way through the forest, the faint crashing of the Neighagra Falls sounding in the distance. The Shadow Mages' forms were nearly indistinguishable from the very darkness of the night. Nothing stirred in their passage.

Eventually the Shadow Mages came to their destination, a large clearing before a cliff wall. In that clearing was a massive, three-headed dog sleeping in a doghouse. Beyond the sleeping hound was the thing it guarded, a colossal door that seemed to be wrought with midnight black steel and had an equally huge padlock in its center.

One of the operatives raised her hand to the mouth of her hood, where unseen gasses were conjured before she gave a soft exhale, blowing the gas in the direction of the Cerberus.

A few moments later, the heads of the Cerberus snorted in their sleep and raised a paw to brush at their noses, before flipping over onto its back and into a deeper sleep.

"Alpha team moving in, Beta Leader," Alpha Leader said into his coms as his squad darted into the open from the woods.

"Copy that Alpha," Beta replied. "Moving into observation spots now."

The operatives of Alpha squad quickly darted past the sleeping form of Cerberus and came to a stop before the large locked doors of Tartarus. Alpha Leader reached up to the lock and examined it—just like the rest of the door and the bolts holding it together, the lock appeared to be made of a very sturdy azure metal. Alpha Leader turned back to his mages and nodded before walking to the doors.

Upon reaching the doors, Alpha Leader simply melded with the shadow in the gap between the two doors, his mages quickly following suit and melding with the shadows before appearing on the other side with their squad leader.

They were in a large tunnel leading deeper into the mountain. It was pitch black, but this was no trouble for Shadow Mages, able to see every detail of the tunnel like the light of the midday sun was shining.

The mages of Alpha squad began moving into a sprint, their speed akin to teleportation, ensuring their arrival at a fork in the tunnel in mere moments.

Alpha Leader examined the five paths spread out before him before quickly point at each with two fingers and darting down one with a Shadow Mage closely behind him, the other operatives moving down each path in pairs as well.

Alpha Leader soon came to a hall with eight doors made of solid steel and no apparent means of opening them, each with a bronze plate with words engraved upon them. At the end of the hall was a vast chamber that Alpha Leader decided to investigate once he was done with examining the prisoners.

He pointed to one side of the hall and his fellow operative nodded and darted over to the first door on that side, Alpha Leader turned his attention to his own side and went to the first door.

Opening a pouch to let out a single floating sphere, he began examining the bronze plate while the sphere began scanning the inhabitant of the cell.

Imprisoned here be the Nuckelavee of the East Coast

This evil creature emerged from the eastern sea during the middle of the second century of the Princesses' reign and wreaked havoc upon the whole of Equestria by spreading disease and famine. By the time the creature was captured by Star Swirl the Bearded, the Royal Sisters were forced to ration all imported foodstuffs in a desperate attempt to save the lives of their subjects. Attempts to communicate with and ascertain the Nuckelavee's reasoning for its actions proved to be fruitless, ensuring its imprisonment here.

This history is recorded here to stave off disaster. If the purpose of Tartarus is ever forgotten, then take heed of these words. These creatures have been locked away for a reason, and destruction will surely befall all should they ever be released.

"Hmmm…" Alpha Leader tilted his head curiously at the message written in Equestrian. Personally, he wasn't all too worried, his mission was to catalogue all that was imprisoned within Tartarus and nothing more. It wasn't like the mere act of taking a look at things was going to suddenly cause all the doors to open .

Alpha Leader moved to the next door in line about twenty metres away when the sphere finished its scanning and returned to the pouch. Coming to a stop at the next door, he let the sphere loose again and examined the plate at this door.

Imprisoned here be the Dragon Nidhogg of Mount Canterlot

Nidhogg was an ancient and long-hibernating dragon that lived in the vast caverns at the roots of the mountain in very heart of Equestria. When Princess Celestia began her time as sole ruler of Equestria, she decreed that the kingdom's capital within the Everfree Forest be abandoned and a new one be constructed on the side of what was to be Mount Canterlot. Nidhogg was eventually awakened by the sounds of ponies living in the newly constructed capital and responded violently. Nidhogg began eating away at the roots of the mountain, his large bulk from millennia of growth ensuring he would be quite capable of eventually causing the mountain to collapse in on itself if he had not have been quickly stopped by Princess Celestia herself. Nidhogg proved to be as prideful and unreasonable as his younger kin, leaving no choice but to imprison him here behind magically hardened rock.

This history is recorded here to stave off disaster. If the purpose of Tartarus is ever forgotten, then take heed of these words. These creatures have been locked away for a reason, and destruction will surely befall all should they ever be released.

'_Hmmm… this seems a bit familiar…_' He finished reading and moved onto the next door once the sphere returned to its pouch.

Imprisoned here be the Cherufe of the Dragon Nesting grounds.

The event that led to the Cherufe's capture was not initially a concern of Equestria or the world at large. Indeed, the event itself is historically significant in that it was the first, and to the date of this writing, the last time dragons have ever civilly requested anything of ponykind. During the third century of Princess Celestia's rule, the Princess was approached by an elder of the dragon migratory flight. The elder dragon had come to request Equestria's aid in ridding their ancestral nesting grounds of a great beast that was plaguing it; this beast was the Cherufe of the local volcano. The constant and sudden surges of magma caused by the Cherufe were a lethal threat to the hatchlings.

The Cherufe itself had proven more than capable of weathering the reprisals of the dragons—its thick hide seemingly immune to tooth, claw, and flame alike—thus the dragons sought the nearest kingdom for help, Equestria. Star Light, a student of Princess Celestia and prodigy in the magical arts, was sent to settle the issue between the Cherufe and the dragons peacefully. This was not to be, and became Star Light's most dangerous assignment when the Cherufe treated him no differently than the dragons. The ensuing battle was long and arduous, but the tide turned in Star Light's favour when the fight brought the two combatants near a large hot spring. During the fight, the Cherufe tripped into the pool where Star Light discovered the great beast's weakness.

With this weakness discovered, Star Light defeated the Cherufe by dousing it with cold water. Star Light had the beast restrained and waited for it to awaken, hoping to negotiate with it. Sadly, this hope would go unfulfilled. The moment the Cherufe regained consciousness, it proceeded to lambast Star Light with curses and attempted to break out of its bonds. Seeing no other recourse, Star Light had the great beast sent to Tartarus with Princess Celestia's consent. It lies here still, in a pool of water kept ice cold to ensure it stays sleeping.

This history is recorded here to stave off disaster. If the purpose of Tartarus is ever forgotten, then take heed of these words. These creatures have been locked away for a reason, and destruction will surely befall all should they ever be released.

Done reading another description, Alpha Leader moved onto the fourth and final door on his side of the hall.

Imprisoned here be the Ifrit of the Emerald Oasis

During the last quarter of the first century of the Royal Sisters' rule, the Emerald Oasis, or as it is now known, the Badlands, was a trading hub of the local desert and mountain communities. Surrounding a crystal clear lake, this place was seen as a haven and natural wonder of the newly formed kingdom. This all changed when the Ifrit attacked. In the span of a week, the fiery creature had reduced a once lush forest and lively young desert city to ash. It had even gone so far as to attack the oasis itself and boil away every drop of water, leaving it dry to the date of this writing.

A young unicorn by the name of Star Swirl did battle with the mighty fire elemental. The battle was long and difficult, however, in the end the young Star Swirl was victorious through his ingenuity and grimoire of unprecedented spells. Even in defeat and mere moments away from being blown out like a candle, the Ifrit still did all in her power to burn the prodigal unicorn, and the sure lack of regret or desire for penance was very clear to all who saw her. The Princesses saw no choice but to lock away the Ifrit here in Tartarus, in a cell made of heat resistant steel.

This history is recorded here to stave off disaster. If the purpose of Tartarus is ever forgotten, then take heed of these words. These creatures have been locked away for a reason, and destruction will surely befall all should they ever be released.

"Hmm…" Alpha Leader tilted his head in thought as something struck him as off. Taking another look at the bronze plate, he realised what it was. Taking a quick look at the codex on his visor, he saw that many history books stated Star Swirl was a unicorn born sometime before the creation of Equestria, and mentored one of the kingdom's founders. The description here implied that Star Swirl was not only born sometime after Equestria was founded, but was born during the rule of the two princesses as well. With that little revelation in mind, he made a note to advise Operative Daniels to question Celestia on the historical accuracy of the history books in her library. Operations often depended on the accuracy of info, and the last thing any Warmage wanted was misinformation.

Examination done, Alpha Leader turned his attention to his fellow operative who was waiting for him to finish. Stepping next to him, Alpha Leader nodded towards the vast chamber at the end of the hall and silently sprinted away, fellow Shadow Mage in tow.

The two Shadow Mages arrived at a ledge overlooking a vast chamber. The walls of the chamber were plain gray rock carved into unnatural smoothness, but it was what was hanging in the center that caught the two Mages' attention.

It was a massive cube made of riveted steel, each side being fifty feet in height and width. On each of the corners were massive chains so thick they'd be impossible to grasp. The chains were all pulled taut, each connecting to the cavern wall.

The ledge also seemed to be connected with the other halls of Tartarus as the other members of the squad soon appeared and formed up on the two operatives staring out into open space.

"What is this?" one of the operatives asked over the coms.

'… _Come… and… see…'_

"I don't know…" Alpha Leader replied as he shook his head to clear it. "… But I think we should investigate. It appears to be a far more elaborate prison than the others, maybe it'll have a description on it like the rest?"

'…_Come and see…'_

Nodding in agreement, one of the Shadow Mages moved to step onto the great chain just below them. The very moment his foot came into contact with it however…

"**RAAAAAAAAAGH!"** A deafening roar echoed throughout the chamber, almost sending the operatives crashing to the floor. The once-still cube was now shaking madly, the sound of massive chains being thrown about added to the already deafening cacophony. The ground shook and dust from the ceiling fell in small clouds

"The hell is going on!"

Suddenly, the darkness lifted from the chamber. Large Equestrian symbols shone brightly as they began appearing all over the cube and the chains holding it up. Within a few moments, the cube slowed its shaking, but the symbols continued to shine nearly as bright as the sun.

'… _Come and see…'_

"I… I think we should go." Alpha leader as he started to notice a small voice whispering from all around him.

"Alpha squad this is Beta!" Beta Leader shouted over the coms. "What's going on down there?! The ground started shaking and that Cerberus woke up! No amount of gas is putting him down and he is making a _lot_ of noise!"

"Beta this is Alpha, we are leaving now!" Alpha Leader replied.

'…_COME AND SEE…'_

"Yes we are most definitely leaving." Alpha Leader motioned for his squad to follow as he dashed back down the hall he came from, and more importantly, away from the cube.

'…_**COME AND SEE…'**_

The small voice booming an imperious demand from all around did nothing but convince Alpha that they needed to leave and leave immediately.

Sprinting through the halls in the safety of the dark, the Shadow Mages went full speed back the way they came, arriving at the entrance in mere moments. The operatives melded with the shadows beneath the door but did not emerge from them once on the other side. Instead, they moved amongst the shadows of the grasses as the Cerberus stomped about and barked madly over them, unaware of the presence of intruders.

The Shadow Mages of Alpha squad re-emerged within the forest proper, but did not stop. Instead they continued running, making for the extraction point where an AIB stealth craft would be picking them up. The higher-ups were going to be very interested in their debriefing, that much was sure.

Back in the depths of Tartarus, the glowing symbols covering the massive cube finally began dying down, but those prisoners who were conscious were not spared from the voice.

'…_COME AND SEE…'_

'…_Come and see…'_

'…_Come… and… see…'_

**-Episode End-**

AN: All the prisoners were based on actual mythical creatures, so yeah you could type in their names and get pictures of what they look like. My favorite is the Nuckelavee


	22. Chapter 15: Flight Tag

Spike was watching TV.

It took a while for the technicians to figure out how to string in signal from the Atlantean Empire, but they managed it in the end. It took even longer for Spike to have his own personal turn with the high-tech holographic device, since Erika spent most of her free time catching up on her shows when the signal finally arrived. Not that Spike didn't enjoy what Erika was watching, but… at the expense of his manliness credentials, Spike quietly admitted that the amount of violence scared him. Eventually he just let Erika be when she was watching the TV, but after her television binge was over and he was able to get a hold of the remote, the little dragon had set about looking for a show _he_ would like. Eventually, after surfing through thousands of channels—and hundreds of strangely blocked ones—Spike did find a channel he enjoyed watching. The shows were apparently called "cartoons," and a lot of them had heroes on awesome adventures like Erika's shows, but a good number of the other cartoons were rather stupid looking. Unknown to Spike, it probably had more to do with the fact the channel he was watching catered to kids, ages eight and under.

"Okay, gang, let's go beat that evil pig!" said Dave the Barbarian, or at least that's what the Equestrian subtitles told Spike he said. The thing about Atlantean television was that it was all in their language. It was weird at first, but eventually the baby dragon grew used to listening to the Atlantean language and reading the subtitles.

"We'll return to classic toons after these messages!" read the subtitles on the bottom of the screen.

"Commercials, I'll get myself some orange juice." Spike muttered as he got off the soft couch and headed for the kitchen.

A few moments later the little dragon was back with a glass in hand and retook his seat. As soon as he did so, the doorbell rang. Spike sipped his juice, content to ignore it as his show came back on.

"Spike could you get that?" Erika shouted from the next room. "I'm a little busy here!"

"I'm watching TV!" Spike called back.

"Spiiiiiike!" Erika repeated warningly.

"Fine…" Spike grumbled as he placed his glass on the table and went over to the door.

"Yes!" Spike said as he opened the door. "Can I help… you?"

The baby dragon blinked his eyes owlishly as he took in the sight before him. In front of him was what could vaguely be considered an attractive human woman wearing a gray crop-top jacket, unbuttoned enough to show off her cleavage and reveal the equally cropped blank tank top she wore underneath, a pair of tightly fitting gray hot pants, and a pair of gray-heeled boots that reached up to the middle of her calves. The mildly strange clothes merely helped emphasise what was grabbing Spike's attention. The "woman" had skin that was pure white and shined like plastic in the sun, her long hair was black as onyx and seemed to have the same shine and a small silver clip kept it off to the side and out of her face, and the colors of her eyes were switched, primarily black with white irises.

"Oh he-hello!" The woman said cheerfully with an electronic stutter. "Ar-aren't you a cute lit-little thing! Nam-name's Leet! Is E-Erika in?"

"Yeah Erika's here," Spike answered absently as he stared down Leet's shirt. "You know, I've wondered why you guys have those and what they're for."

"What th-these?" Leet asked motioning to her breasts. "Well they u-used to be REALLY important back in the ol-olden days, but not anymo-anymore! Nowadays t-they're just there to loo-look good."

"So you just have them to… have them?" Spike asked as he scratched the top of his head.

"Not ju-just that, they're _really_ soft and f-feel nice to touch," Leet replied with a smile and dropped into a crouch, crossing her arms under her chest to emphasise her breasts. "Here, wa-wanna feel?"

"Sure, I guess?" Spike replied with a shrug and reached out with his claws.

"Ohhh~" Leet gave a pleased coo. "You're p-pretty good, ever thought of being a masseuse?"

"Thanks!" Spike replied with a smile as he continued to knead synthetic flesh. "I was actually practicing, got lots of tips from those two ponies at the spa."

Slowly appearing in a doorway with an incredulous expression on her face from the new noises she started to hear, Erika gaped at the scene at the front door.

"What the fu…" Erika began before scowling angrily. "Spike, you stop that this instant!"

"Whoa!" Spike exclaimed as he turned to face the angered approaching unicorn. "Erika what's wrong?"

"Ye-yeah, why'd you make him s-stop?" Leet asked with a pout. "Th-those little claws of his felt wond-wonderful!"

"Okay, Spike we are going to have a _long_ talk about doing things strangers ask you to do!" Erika said angrily to a wide eyed little dragon before turning to Leet. "And who. The. Fuck. Are you!"

"Erika, I'm hu-hurt!" Leet exclaimed, theatrically placing her hands over her heart. "Can't you recognise your fav-favorite uncle? Well I wo-would your aunt no-now…"

"Leet?!" Erika exclaimed and got a happy nod from the AI. At that, the violet aura of Erika's magic quickly appeared around her and pulled her into the house before slamming the door shut.

"Oooo s-spinny!" Leet Giggled as she came to a stop in the hall way, shaking slightly when Erika's aura left her.

"Leet, I love you, enough to consider you my aunt." Erika said, barely able to keep her angry glare down. "But you better fucking explain what the hell you were doing with Spike!"

"Well?" Erika demanded when the AI only gave a dull stare.

"We-well you se-GUH!" Leet cut off and started shuddering uncontrollably for a few moments before falling to her knees.

"Whoa, jeez!" Spike exclaimed. "What wrong with her?!"

"Leet?! What's wrong!? Look at me Leet!" Erika shouted as she took a hold of the AI's head and forced their eyes to meet. "Eyes… glowing, uncontrollable shaking, that stutter… …"

"Leet, look at me…" Erika said once the AI's gaze regained some focus, sounding like she couldn't decide to be furious or concerned. "Leet… are you jolting."

Leet's ensuing silence and the way she wouldn't meet Erika's gaze was all that was needed to answer the question.

"Damn it Leet!" Erika growled as she quickly levitated the AI into the living room and onto the couch. "I thought you got help and kicked the habit!"

"Erika what's going on?" Spike asked in confused concern.

"Watch her for me!" Erika said, ignoring the question. "I need some things from storage!"

"Uhhhh, okay?" Spike replied unsurely as Erika bolted into the other room. He quickly stepped over to the couch and stood by the AI's side. For her part, Leet sat very quiet and kept her eyes closed, giving a full body shudder every few moments.

"Curse you Dave the Barbarian!" The TV said in the background. "I, the Dark Lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy, will have my revenge!"

A moment later Erika came back into the room, a gray metallic box and some wires floating in the air behind her. Coming to a stop beside the couch, Erika attached the wires to the box and levitated the other ends near Leet.

"Leet, could you open an outlet for me." Erika asked the AI, who groaned in response, although a small rectangular section of her skin on her left wrist opened up. "Thank you, now just lie there and let the battery drain you. Do _not_ try to pull the power back in! Do you hear me?!"

Leet only mumbled in response but Erika seemed to take it as an acknowledgement since she nodded.

"Erika, are you going to tell me what's going on or what?" a rather worried and annoyed baby dragon asked.

"Leet is suffering from an addiction… again." Erika stated with a hint of reproach as she examined the battery.

"What's an addiction?" Spike asked in confusion.

Pausing at the question for a few moments, Erika asked herself whether or not she should explain it to Spike. Nodding her head in decision, Erika turned to face the little dragon, better he found out from her than online once he found out about the internet.

"An addiction is…" Erika began, thinking carefully. "Imagine if you found this one flavour of ice cream you really like, I mean _really_ like. At first it tastes great and you have some once in a while, then the tastes starts to fade but your craving for it doesn't. You decide to simply eat more of the flavour and more often. The flavour comes back just as strongly as before and you feel fine, but eventually the taste fades again you're forced to eat more and more at a time. Eventually no matter how much of the flavour you have, all you get is a little pleasant taste, but that doesn't matter to you because the cravings have only grown, forcing you to eat the ice cream just to satisfy them. And all the while your body suffers immensely, eventually leaving you looking like you're suffering from some horrible illness, which is not far off really."

"It sounds horrible!" Spike exclaimed with a wince. "And Leet's suffering from that? Is that why her skin and eyes look like that?"

"No," Erika answered with a shake of her head. "Leet is an AI; her body is synthetic, as in an artificial construction."

"Artificial?" Spike repeated with a frown before widening his eyes in realization. "Oh, I read about stuff like that in pony sci-fi books! But wait… if she's artificial then how is she suffering from an addiction? Shouldn't a robot be unable to feel anything?"

"No, and never say that again." Erika stated firmly, if it weren't for the fact she knew Spike was asking an innocent question, her reaction would have been much more extreme. "When you get down to it everything we feel is the result of tiny electrical impulses surging through our nerves. Even the emotions we feel are only chemical reactions in our brains. So with that in mind, what is so special about nerves that gel circuitry can't do the same? What is so unique about the organic brain that a processor can't replicate? Leet and any other AI can feel, taste, smell, and emote just as well as you can… probably even better, and that's the problem."

"Why?" Spike asked as he scratched the top of his head. "That sounds kinda awesome really."

"As an AI, Leet has far greater control over her synthetic body then you do over your organic one." Erika replied, staring at said synthetic life form on the couch. "So if she wants, she can up the sensitivity of her nerves, of everything she feels. This little fact has resulted in AIs as a whole being incredibly susceptible to addictions, particularly sensory addictions. Leet here is suffering the aftereffects of Jolting herself, meaning she overloaded her power cells, which reminds me…"

"Leet? Leet, look at me." Erika said, grabbing a hold of Leet's head again. "How did you Jolt yourself? If you tried at the Atlantean facilities then you would have been caught and Equestria doesn't have the power generation needed to overload you."

"Weeeeell …" Leet began, without a stutter but still a little loopy. "I was walking around, looking for something to do and I suddenly wanna get buzzed. So I start looking around but they only have these little dinky generators lying around so I was resolving to having an itch and not scratching it when I see this pegasus on a cloud. She's stalking this couple, and after a minute she stomps on that cloud and makes it start shooting lightning bolts. Seeing this I think "LIGHTBULB MOMENT~" and go over to her. So I start asking her to bolt me but she's reaaaaaaaally reluctant at first. So I sez "Lookie here, electricity don't hurt me!" and let off some sparks from my power cells. So she finally shoots some lightning at me, and voila! Jolted."

"Dash…" Erika muttered with a shake of her head. "As much I as I would like to watch you and get you some help, I do have an appointment for this afternoon."

"Conrad!" Erika called out. "Could you get down here!"

After a moment of hearing Conrad's steps thump down the stairs, he appeared in the door.

"Yo, Little Einhorn, what- Oh hey it's Leet!" Conrad exclaimed upon seeing the AI on the couch, but quickly frowned when he saw what she was hooked up to. "Err, what's going on?"

"Guess who started to Jolt again after all that work getting her to stop?" Erika said gruffly.

"No… Leet why?" Conrad said softly as he quickly darted to the AI's side.

"None of your business." Leet muttered with a sniff before turning onto her side, facing the couch cushions.

"From your reaction I guess you were aware of her sex change?" Erika stated to Conrad.

"Yeah, before I came here she told about her upcoming sex change." Conrad replied quietly from his cross-legged position beside Leet. "Showed me picture of what she would look like afterwards too… she, or rather he, at the time, showed no signs of Jolting."

"So the addiction must be a recent development." Erika mused.

"I'm right here you know!" Leet gave a muffled shout.

"Hmm… I have to go meet with my friends soon, do you mind watching her for me, Conrad?" Erika asked.

"No problem, Erika, none at all." Conrad answered solemnly.

"Thanks, Spike, you help him. Make sure she stays away from all the outlets and… well, Conrad can tell you what else, I have to get going."

"You just get along, we'll hold down the fort." Conrad stated with a little returned cheer. "Okay, Spike, you see this little meter here? When it turns green we'll…"

Conrad's voice faded as Erika left the room walked out the front door, closing it behind her. She took a breath and gazed over the view of Ponyville before her. A lot had changed in such a short time, no longer filled with thatch houses and dirt roads, Ponyville looked more like a quaint industrial era village. Erika was at a loss of whether or not she liked the change, compared to her memories of Ponyville from before… she just found herself on the fence on the matter.

Shaking her head clear, Erika began making her way out of town. It seemed to be a quiet day, as few ponies walked the streets, apparently enjoying their new, freely renovated homes.

"Miss Gefallen!" Erika heard a voice call out and turned towards it. She was met with the sight of Octavia, rather energetically waving with her cybernetic hand. The gray mare quickly trotted forward, her mechanical appendage smoothly switching from hand to hoof.

"Miss Gefallen, It's been a while!" Octavia smiled happily and presented her azure hoof which quickly switched into a hand.

Blinking at the gesture for a moment, Erika reached out with her hoof and Octavia quickly took a hold of it, shaking it eagerly.

"I see you have been getting… acquainted with hand gestures." Erika remarked after getting her hoof back.

"Indeed I have Miss Gefallen." Octavia replied with a cheerful nod, her hand now splayed against her chest. "I must admit I was only seeking a temporary substitute, but this mechanical appendage has proven to be most fascinating. At first I only used it to restart my cello practicing and get out of my rather sudden forced retirement. But then I started experimenting with the limb, holding objects, manipulating them in ways I hadn't been capable of when I had only hooves. I never knew just how incredibly useful a hand was, how convenient, how… how…" Octavia swished her hand in the air in the fashion of one trying to find a suitable word. That wasn't the only time Octavia had been using her mechanical hand in the conversation either, the entire time Octavia was almost wildly gesticulating with her hand. It seemed someone had taught her how to "talk" with her mechanical limb.

"Handy?" Erika offered shamelessly.

Octavia blinked in confusion for a moment before her eyes lit in realization and she laughed. "Indeed! Handy! A most apt description!"

"So you're fine with the limb?" Erika asked. "And you may call Erika if you wish."

"Oh yes, Erika, I am most at ease with this fascinating piece of machinery!" Octavia declared happily with a flourish. Suddenly the gray coated mare frowned and muttered. "I just wish Vinyl felt the same way…"

"Vinyl?" Erika stated questioningly and narrowed her eyes in thought. "I think I remember her being a roommate of yours… isn't she a musician too?"

"Yes on both accounts." Octavia replied solemnly.

"Why would she have a problem?" Erika asked in some confusion. "Wouldn't she be happy that you're able to live normally again?"

"Well… this is a little uncomfortable to explain…" Octavia began, rubbing her shoulder with her azure hand. "Remember some time ago when I came to you seeking answers about an Assault Mage under your command? Well, Vinyl was that friend I mentioned. I was unconscious at the time, but Vinyl was not, and saw everything Warmage Timothy did in his… ahem, madness…"

"I'm guessing that experience has colored Vinyl's viewpoint on my people?" Erika stated and narrowed her eyes.

"Yes… yes it most certainly did…" Octavia replied with a wince at Erika's expression. "Vinyl has not been very trustful of, or shown much kindness to, Atlanteans. Recently she has voiced her discomfort towards my newfound fascination with Atlantean technology, and my, ahem, _attachment_ to my cybernetic limb."

"Well she doesn't have to worry for much longer." Erika replied tersely. "I received word today, a shipment of bio-reactors designed for ponies will be arriving soon and should be fully operational this time tomorrow. You will have your leg back and your friend's discomfort lifted."

"Oh… that's… great." Octavia responded without much enthusiasm. "In all curiosity… would that new mini-mall on the edge of Everfree have a store specializing in… technology? Your people's technology I mean, not ours."

"Of course." Erika answered while keeping down a smile, Octavia wasn't fooling anyone. "Computers, self-powered appliances, cybernetic augmentations, there's a little something for everyone I would think."

"Yes, yes… interesting." Octavia said softly. "Well! I should be off, busy day ahead! Have a good afternoon, Erika, thank you for the chat."

"You are very welcome!" Erika called after the musical pony as she left.

Smiling, the violet unicorn continued on her way through town. "Do I really have to haul this behind me?" a filly's voice whined. "You can lift several tons, wouldn't it be better if you pulled this instead?"

"You bought those clothes Tiara, up to you to take responsibility for them." Another older female voice responded.

"Hmph."

"Don't you hmph me Tiara." The voice said firmly. "You should have thought of who was going to pull the load before buying all that stuff."

"…Sorry…"

Soon enough the speakers came into view from around the corner, Zoe and the two fillies she was taking care of, Silver Spoon and Tiara. Zoe was wearing the usual gray jumpsuit and depowered cuirass with her red hair pulled into a tight bun. Silver Spoon had this large grin on her face as she glanced at her friend every now and then, Tiara was pulling a large wagon overflowing with clothes, clothes that Erika recognized as Atlantean designs and brands, Equestrian clothes, especially dresses, were far too distinctive to mistake for anything else.

"Oh, hello Major!" Zoe greeted with a casual salute upon getting sight of Erika.

"Good afternoon." Erika greeted back. "You are Zoe right? Frederick's company?"

"Yes, ma'am." Zoe answered.

"I heard about you," Erika stated, "That you got custody of two fillies, I'm presuming these two are them?"

"Yes ma'am," Zoe replied, waving to the two fillies in question, "Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. I was… convinced to take them in," the Battle Mage finished with a smile at Silver, who grinned warmly at her.

"So you two… not driving Zoe around the bend I hope?" Erika asked expectedly. "Wouldn't want my Warmage going crazy because her two girls wouldn't clean their rooms now wouldn't we?"

"No, I clean my room!" Silver said with a giggle while Tiara only averted her eyes to the side. Erika raised her brows at that.

"Tiara is trying, she really is." Zoe replied with a sigh. "Slow going though…"

"Ah," Erika simply said. "I'm guessing you three were out for a bit of shopping?"

"Yep," Zoe said with a long suffering sigh. "The other children at the school have been taking to wearing some clothing from the mini-mall, and Tiara decided she needed to be cool and get a whole closet full of them. But _someone_ needs to realise I'm not her bootlick," Zoe said with a glance at said filly who blushed in response.

"Kids today…" Erika said simply with a shrug. "Are your living conditions okay? Or are you three staying at the barracks?"

"No, we're fine." Zoe responded. "I was going to ask around about getting a place here, but among other things, Tiara inherited her parents' manor. We moved in a while ago and have been living there ever since it was repaired."

"Oh that's good to hear," Erika replied. "Well I'll leave you to it then."

"See you, ma'am." Zoe nodded and turned to her fillies. "Come on girls, let's go home."

"You are going to help me place these in my closet aren't you?" Tiara ground out as she pulled her wagon full of purchases.

"Responsibility Tiara." Zoe answered as they continued on their way. "You're going to have to learn it one of these days, you might as well start on it when you're young. Besides, if you are that desperate for help, then ask Silver Spoon."

"Sil?"

"Sure thing Tiara!" Silver replied chirpily. "We'll make a game out of it! First we'll sort everything by color, then we'll sort by…"

The voices of the two fillies and one Warmage soon faded into the distance as Erika continued on her own way. Running into Octavia and then Zoe had managed to temporary distract the Atlantean unicorn from the problem at home and improve her mood. She still felt sour about the whole situation, but it wasn't as bad as before.

Erika walked along a road leading out of Ponyville, her mind focused on Leet. She had many fond memories of Leet back when the AI was male. He most definitely earned being thought of by several generations as an uncle, loved like family by many children and fully grown members of the Gefallen family. The AI was the life of the party, if there were plans to go snowboarding or some other outdoor activity, Leet would be there, any outing could be made perfect just by Leet's inclusion, and if anyone was looking for some casual _fun_, he was game. Plain to say, Leet loved being social in every way possible, he was life at its most fun loving and wild. But … Leet was also an AI, and the nature of his personality did him no favours against his natural weaknesses. Though everyone knew it was only a matter of when and not if, it still hurt when he started Jolting.

It was a mundane addiction overall, but it was still a major problem. Leet's first bout of Jolt addiction lasted eight months, and took years more for people to relax around the AI and not worry he would relapse every time he saw an outlet. She'd been ten when the whole thing first started, and was devastated when her favorite uncle, her only uncle actually, started showing up wacked out of his mind from the overcharge surging through his processors. Now Leet was addicted again, and ruined all the work he put into recovering. What bothered Erika most was the timing. Before a simple gender change, Leet was as clean for several decades, and after Leet became female suddenly, she was addicted to Jolting.

Erika sighed; she obviously needed Leet to open up about why she had become an addict again. And judging from the way the normally open AI was not instantly forthcoming, Erika had no doubts it would be difficult.

At the outskirts of town, Erika shook her head clear and picked up the pace. She focused on meeting up with her friends Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Leet had gotten her fix when Dash had blasted her with lightning and Erika needed to not only warn her off from doing so again, but get her to spread the word to the other pegasi. Since substance abuse was most definitely not a thing in Equestria, Erika could already tell it was going to be a fun affair.

**Λ**

Erika arrived at a large grass field after some traveling. Rainbow Dash wanted to against Richards again after training up for several weeks, and Fluttershy demanded to come along as soon as she heard about Dash's desire, wanting to be there for her fellow pegasus if she hurt herself flying again. Erika felt strangely conflicted about the whole thing, but in the end saw no problem with Dash wanting to compete against Richards. After all, that was what the Air Mage wanted…

Rainbow Dash was in the field, stretching out and keeping herself pumped up for the intense flying ahead, she was wearing a pair of goggles on her head. Nearby lying on a picnic blanket with a large pile of herbs and crèmes was Fluttershy, who had a very worried expression on her face. Unexpectedly, Rarity was also there, lying on a cushion near Fluttershy and drinking a cup of tea.

The violet unicorn raised her brows in some surprise when she saw this, she was fairly certain that the glamorous unicorn should have been back at her boutique preparing dresses and developing new fashions. Shaking her head clear, she quickly approached the three.

"Hello girls!" Erika greeted. "Dash, are you sure you're ready to fly with the Air Mages? We're not talking about some casual flyers here, most of them have been flying for over a century."

"Ha, don't worry about it Erika!" Dash retorted as she continued to limber up. "I'll floor the whole lot of them with my skills, show those flying relics how it's done!"

"If you say so…" Erika replied before turning to Rarity. "Rarity, I didn't know you'd be here. Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"I rather wish that was true darling," Rarity replied with a sigh and sipped her tea. "As much as I enjoy spending time with all of you, fashion is my passion and I ever do so enjoy partaking in it."

"What's wrong?" Erika asked in some worry. "Did something happen?"

"Rather, what is not happening." Rarity responded as she placed her tea cup down on a saucer. "My profession is not the most hectic; most ponies don't wear clothes unless it's for special occasions, so quiet days are to be expected. But lately I have been getting little-to-no customers at my boutique."

"Oh, what do you think is making them not come around?" Erika asked though she felt she already knew the reason.

"Well at first I thought it was because I somehow fell behind on the trends," Rarity began. "But after thorough scrutiny of my sources, I discovered I was still modern! I was ever so confused, what could have happened to have driven off all my customers? Did I say or do something gauche? Well after doing some looking around, I discovered why."

"It wasn't because I had committed a faux-pas," Rarity continued with some distress. "It was because I now had competition! Everywhere I looked, ponies were wearing pieces of exotic and foreign clothing. So I asked where they had gotten what they were wearing and was told that they bought it from the mini-mall on the edge of town! I couldn't believe it! Do not begrudge this of me darling, but the idea of your Warmages being fashion designers astounds me!"

"You'd be surprised…" Erika responded, "Though it's more likely some civilians were contracted for the jobs."

"Oh, well I went over to the mall to see for myself what I competing against," Rarity rambled on. "And I couldn't believe my eyes! It was not the fashions that shocked me, I had seen those back in town. But it was the prices! They were so low as to be giving them away! Let me say this darling, if I tried to match those prices I would only just barely be able to get by, and only if I recycled every piece of scrap, and put in what money I would normally spend on myself into the store!"

"Umm… are you going to be okay Rarity?" Erika asked, looking as uncomfortable as she felt.

"Well… hopefully after the buzz about the new, cheap, and exotic fashions from a whole other world dies down, I'll start getting my regular customers again," the glamorous unicorn responded with a worried frown. "But until then, I'll have to carefully manage my savings."

"So… uh, I'm guessing it was a quiet day today?" Erika asked. "That's why you decided to spend the rest of it with us?"

"Yes, and I have a feeling I'll be having more for the foreseeable future…" Rarity narrowed her eyes in thought as she stared at Erika. "Are feeling alright Erika? You look to be a bit off."

"Rarity's right, Erika," Fluttershy added as she stood up to take a closer look at Erika's features. "You look a little like you're feeling ill, are you alright?"

Erika was about to nervously answer when a low boom sounded overhead. All four ponies in the field looked up to see the arrival of Richards and his four TACs. All four TACs slowed down as they flew overhead, now flying in lazy circles overhead. Erika quickly opened a channel to Richards who was somewhere in the cloud of mages overhead.

"Sparkly," Richards greeted in his usual stoic tone. "I am about to lead my TACs in some flight games, how can I help you?"

"Good afternoon, Richards," Erika greeted in turn. "I'm on the field below you actually. Guess who wants to fly against you again." Erika stated as she looked at an extremely excited rainbow-maned pegasus.

"Really? Well it's about time," Richards stated. "I'll be down in a moment."

Staring up at the sky, Erika was able to spot Richards among all the black specks swarming overhead and see him swoop down from above. The Squadron Leader dived towards the four ponies and came to a complete stop a meter from the ground, his abrupt halt sending a brief burst wind in all directions.

"Ahhhh!" Fluttershy yelled as she covered her medical supplies.

"Oh my!" Rarity exclaimed and shielded her eyes from the dust.

"Not bad," Dash stated simply, her goggles pulled down.

"Air Mages…" Erika muttered and rolled her eyes.

Floating in mid-air, Richards crossed his arms and retracted his helm. Giving a nod to Erika, he turned to face Dash and fixed her with a neutral stare.

"So… I hear your name is Rainbow Dash," he stated. "Haven't seen you since that little race around Canterlot, been practicing I hope."

"Yeah, that's my name, and I know yours," Dash replied with a smirk. "And I have been practicing a lot since then."

"Enough to consider yourself capable of keeping up with us in the air?" Richards said with a raised brow.

"Look buddy!" Dash said with a scowl at Richards. "I know all you guys are like a million years old and have been flying since dirt was invented, but have you ever thought that maybe getting to being so old is gonna make you guys kinda… stale?"

Richards raised a questioning brow in response.

"But look at me!" Dash continued, motioning to herself with her hooves and smiling confidently. "I'm young and full of awesome fresh tricks! So yeah, I think I can at least keep up with a bunch of old timers!"

Richards tilted his head to the side and stared at Dash at Dash neutrally, though Erika was able to spot the slight twitch of his lips into an approving smile. Eventually the Air Mage spoke four simple words.

"Prove it, chicken wings." With that, the Squadron Leader turned away and motioned to his TACs, missing the angry scowl Dash had on her face. Managing to spot their CO's hand signals despite being so high up, the Air Mages swooped down much like Richards had, though unlike the Squadron Leader, the Air Mages slowed down long before they got close to the ground. Within a few moments the area was utterly filled with Air Mages, making a certain yellow coated pegasus rather nervous.

"Listen up!" Richards called out. "First game of the day is flight tag, here are the rules: Touch me and you're it… everyone got that?"

It barely needed to be said that the Air Mages already knew what was going on since they had been under Richards' command for decades now; the announcement was solely for Dash's benefit. Said pegasus looked a little incredulous at what she heard before shaking it off and preparing herself for the flying ahead.

"We have a pony joining in with us, so if you feel like it… play nice," Richards stated flippantly, inciting yet another scowl from Dash and inspiring her to want to show him up even more. "Alright, fifty of our youngest let's go!"

With that, Richards and fifty Air Mages burst into the air. Dash blinked for a moment before quickly adjusting her goggles and flying after them in a similar burst of speed. Leaving a little over nine hundred Air Mages, two interested unicorns, and one nervous wreck of a pegasus to watch her go.

It was mere moments before they reached cloud height before coming to a stop. Waiting a brief moment for their pegasus tag-along to catch up and get into position, Richards then quickly lobbed a brightly shining magical flare into the sky. The flare soared a hundred feet above the flying group before bursting into a starling flash, briefly stunning Dash .

Trying to get the spots out of her eyes, Dash heard several resounding booms. Upon regaining her vision after a few, fleeting moments, Dash saw that Richards and the Air Mages had quickly flown off at Mach speeds. Scowling at being left behind, Dash became determined to show off the fruits of her training and quickly rainboomed after them.

After catching up to the group, Dash stayed back to see what was going on before diving in. The young Air Mages were swarming around Richards like infuriated hornets, and showing they were all either just as fast as or _faster_ than Dash in the process. Yet the Squadron Leader showed he did not earn his rank purely by ability to command; every time he looked like he was about to be hopelessly swarmed he was able to maneuver out of the mess.

Quickly growing tired of simply watching the action, Rainbow Dash quickly burst forward, her speed only a few points below Mach 2. Quickly maneuvering through the cloud of junior Air Mages, Dash charged at Richards, looking like she was going to manage to blindside him, however at the last moment, Richards turned towards her and give her a look that seemed to say 'Really?' before bursting out of the way at Mach 4.

Gritting her teeth, Dash only changed her flight path to go after Richards, joining the swarm of Air Mages doing the same. What followed was several minutes of Richards dodging not only Rainbow Dash but fifty young and determined mages as well, with the Squadron Leader bursting away at speeds nobody else could match, the intention being to get some breathing room every time the others came close to catching him.

The rainbow-maned pegasus frowned in thought as she considered the situation. She was not at all frustrated with Richards being faster than her, she was actually very much enjoying the challenge he presented her. But she was also wasn't going to give up or slow down until she managed to tag him _at least_ once today. And despite what she said to him earlier, she was indeed taking him seriously. What was a little trash talk between rivals after all?

'…_First game of the day is flight tag, here are the rules: Touch me and you're it…'_

'_Not much in the way of rules…'_ Suddenly the pegasus smiled as she dived for a spot of open air she was sure Richards would see. _'Ha, doesn't say anything about cheating!'_

Richards at that moment was absently dodging another attempt by his mages to rush him to get a tag in, his mind contemplating the game's pony tag-along.

'_Took a little while longer than I thought she would to get back to me._' the Squadron Leader mused. _'Obviously she wanted to make absolutely sure she had improved since the last time she was in the air with me. And she has definitely managed that. She only managed to get halfway to Mach 2 before she cramped up, now she can keep up without over-exerting herself, remarkable, extremely remarkable. I'm definitely not going to let this one go, she will be a prospective cadet as long as I have anything to say about it. It's not going to be easy though… I heard about that loyalty of hers, if that aspect of her personality extends to personal dreams then I'll definitely have my work cut out fo-' _Richards thoughts were interrupted as he spotted the falling form of Rainbow Dash, having apparently cramped again. _'And I was just complimenting her … egg in my face… right let's go rescue her.'_

Richards was not the only one to have spotted the Dash's falling form, and other Air Mages were also moving to catch her. However the younger Air Mages saw that Dash was in no immediate danger of hitting the ground and didn't try to rush for her as fast as they could. The Squadron Leader seemed to feel differently than his younger subordinates and burst towards Dash at several times the speed of sound, quickly decelerating when he closed in, his arms reaching out to catch the limp pegasus.

Just as he was about to wrap his arms around her, Dash lashed out with her hind legs in midair. Richards gave a grunt, more out of surprise than anything else when the pony he was trying to catch bucked him squarely in the chest. He stared at the pegasus that looked like she was danger moments before, and now was whooping and hollering in delight… doing the cabbage patch.

"WOO! Oh yeah! Who da mare?! I'm da mare!" Rainbow Dash shouted before finally turning her attention to Richards. "I GOT YOU!"

Richards only gave a low chuckle and crossed his arms as he nodded in agreement. "Yes, you got me… you're it."

At that, Rainbow Dash froze in midair and her expression turned to one of shocked realization.

"Oh crap!" Dash managed to get out before she quickly burst away, just avoiding an Air Mage that would have blindsided her.

Instead of chasing after her like his Air Mages, Richards decided to lay back a bit and study Dash's technique at his leisure. In the following minutes the Squadron Leader learned quite a bit. For instance, he learned that although Rainbow Dash was slower than the Air Mages chasing her she was far, far more maneuverable than them. A fact the young pegasus was taking advantage of mercilessly. At Mach speeds, the Air Mages often needed to do wide turning arcs, even at Mach 1, when they maneuvered, but not Dash. The athletic pegasus had a massive advantage over the Air Mages there, while they needed wide arcs, Dash could turn on a dime no matter how fast she went.

And so it went, the rainbow colored streak that was Rainbow Dash outmaneuvered her Air Mage pursuers for several minutes. Deciding he had learned enough, Richards studied where Dash was flying for a few moments more before bursting forward at Mach 6.

Currently, Dash was doing a fantastic job staying untouched, however, it was definitely not as easy as she made it look. Not at all an easy feat since barely any of them bothered to slow down below the speed of sound. She whipped her head around upon hearing another sonic boom, but was already too late. For the briefest instant she had a clear picture of Richards flying by in front of her, looking like he was on a reclining chair and had his hand out to brush her forehead leisurely, in the next instant he was already gone.

"Horsefeathers," Dash cursed as she came to a stop. "He got me back."

"Woo! Not bad pony!" an Air Mage said as she came to a hovering position beside the pegasus.

"Yeah, never saw a new comer manage to tag the SL before!" another commented as he also hovered nearby.

"She's an Ace!" added another. "A _Rookie Ace_!"

"Rookie Ace!" Cheered a dozen other Air Mages that came by.

"Heh, thanks guys!" said a brightly smiling Rainbow Dash, who was also blushing and rubbing the back of her head.

"Come on, Rookie Ace, let's go get him!" the first Age Mage said before she burst after Richards with a boom, the rest of the Air Mages following soon after.

Taking a moment to adjust her goggles again, Dash followed after as well.

Down below, three ponies and several hundred mages watched the air show overhead. Despite the quantity of people around, it was fairly quiet, thanks to the vast majority of Air Mages keeping their helms up and talking over the coms rather than aloud. Also, in a show of respect they gave Erika and her friends a wide berth rather than crowd around them like everything else.

Erika was rather drawn in to the spectacle overhead along with Fluttershy, who was not at all enjoying herself thanks to how hoof bitingly worried she was. Rarity on the other hand…

"Hmph, I can't make heads or tails out of those darting black specs up there," the glamorous unicorn announced in an uninterested tone. "Hmm… Erika?"

"Yes, Rarity?" Erika muttered absently while still watching the flyers above.

"How are things between you and your family? Your birth family I mean," Rarity asked as she refilled her teacup.

Giving Rarity her full attention, Erika replied. "Well, I and Armor have been getting along fairly well. I find that we actually _can_ bond over terms of service, as long as I make sure not to get too descriptive."

"Well thank goodness he was spared being told how unpleasant entrails are to step in." Rarity stated with a very pointed stare to Erika, who gave a rueful smile in turn. "But what I wanted to know was how well you were getting along with your birth parents, Erika."

"Oh… uhhh…" Erika said, at a loss of how to proceed. "Well… I haven't actually spoken to them just yet."

"What? But why Erika?" Rarity asked, hoof to mouth and eyes widened. "They're your parents. Goodness, they must be ever so worried about you!"

"Why, I would be worried too if I were them," Rarity continued "My daughter disappears for a month, and when she finally comes back? She doesn't want to talk to me."

"… I know it sounds bad." Erika admitted as she thought about the ponies that were her birth parents. "But… it's just that when I think about my parents, I think about Su Li and Ezekiel Gefallen, not two unicorns. I just… it's uncomfortable to think about those two ponies…"

"Y-your parents must be feeling torn as well Erika," Fluttershy said, finally tearing her attention away from Rainbow Dash above. "You're back safe and sound after being teleported away by Discord. Only now you don't recognise them as parents anymore, and were raised by people with entirely different beliefs. Can't you imagine how conflicted they must be feeling right now? Having to balance the need to see you in person, to see for themselves that you're safe, with respecting your own wishes?"

"I… I…" Erika was at a loss for a long moment; finally she sighed and nodded to the both of them. "You're right, both of you. I'll mail Armor when I get home and ask him to set up a meeting with his… our parents."

"You're doing the right thing Erika," Fluttershy reassured happily. "They'll be so happy to be able to finally see you after all this time, after everything that has happened."

"Yeah… it's going to be nerve wracking though…" Erika stated a little nervously. "I'll need to get to know them all over again."

"You're a strong pony Erika," Rarity stated. "Besides, you've been through worse, you told us yourself… unfortunately." Rarity finished with a shudder that Fluttershy could not help but mirror.

"Oh come on you two," Erika said with a small scowl. "I said I was sorry, it isn't easy trying to be careful about what I tell you. You're all my friends and I've never had to hide or censor my exploits before."

"Well, as I understand it, all of your Atlantean friends are also Warmages," Rarity pointed out. "And we are most certainly not."

"Right, right…" Erika replied with a roll of her eyes and turned her attention back to the sky. Dash was still going strong flying against Air Mages, but it seemed that the game was changed when Erika wasn't looking, involving something being passed back and forth between the flyers, or at least that's what she could make up from her position on the ground.

"Do you have another cup?" Erika asked Rarity.

"Certainly, here you go darling."

Taking magical hold of the cup Rarity levitated over to her, Erika turned her attention back to the game above. She still needed to talk to Rainbow about Leet, and explain why it was a bad idea for her to shoot people with lightning bolts, and to also get her to spread the news amongst the other pegasi, but that could wait until Dash had her fun.

Erika took a sip of her tea and relaxed.

**Λ**

Aboard the great portal ship that hung suspended far above Equestria there was a large group of people in dark blue jumpsuits and caps. This group had just been transported from the home universe of Atlantis, they were the artificers sent by a contracted company to set up bio-reactors to return lost limbs to the ponies of Equestria. The reactors themselves were in metallic crates about one cubic foot in size, and were now being loaded into drop ships bound for the surface.

One of the workers was walking towards the precipice of the hanger. He was a man with unremarkable features and wore the same jumpsuit and cap as the others in the group, a pair of wrenches and one large nut made to vaguely resemble a skull and crossbones was on the back of the jumpsuit and front of the cap, the symbol of the contracted company.

The man stopped before the very edge of the hanger and looked out to the world of Equestria below. It was a beautiful sight, Cloudsdale was pumping out rainbows, there were rolling hills and emerald grasslands that stretched out as far as the eye could see, and the golden farmlands surrounding the Unicorn Range seemed to glisten in the noon sun. And amongst it all was Mount Canterlot and the capital city of Equestria that clung to its side. It was truly a glorious sight.

The man smiled at the view, but it was a smile that did not reach his glazed dark brown eyes, eyes that seemed to gaze into infinity no matter where he looked.

"Hey buddy!" a voice called out.

The man quickly blanked his face and turned towards the source. It another artificer, she was some distance away, leaning out of the opening of a drop ship. Apparently the loading process had finished while the man was enjoying the view. She waved him over and shouted again.

"Look, I know the view is great and all, but save the sightseeing for after we're done installing this stuff!" she said before adding with a smile. "I know I will!"

Nodding sharply, the man quickly jogged over to the ship and moved to get in.

"Sorry," he muttered as he passed by the woman.

"Eh, no problem." She reassured with another smile. "If you hadn't I probably would have done the same."

As soon as he was onboard, the woman gave the side of the ship several loud thuds before pulling herself inside. The ramp closed, and before long, a small fleet of drop ships began to lift off. They left the hanger, each one heading to a specific destination in Equestria. In a few moments they were specs in the distance.

**-TBC-**

AN: And done! Well the next chapter will open up with Erika going through an average day on the job before heading off to see her parents… in more ways then one!

Edit: 10/06/2013 You know? This story has gotten rather... quiet... a bit too quiet for something with a dark tag. I believe it's time things took a bit of a... downturn.


End file.
